No Reason to Review Field of Membership Ruling: NCUA to Appeals Court

The NCUA had congressional authorization to expand its field of membership rules and there is no reason why the full Circuit Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia should review a ruling upholding those powers, the agency said Thursday.

“The panel’s unanimous and well-reasoned opinion presents no basis for rehearing,” the NCUA said, in a brief filed in federal court.

The American Bankers Association is asking the full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn a panel’s decision that the NCUA had the power to expand its Field of Membership rules.

In that ruling, the judges said that the NCUA has broad authority in issuing rules governing fields of membership.

However, the court also ruled that the NCUA must better explain the part of its rule stating that credit unions may serve core-based statistical areas without serving the area’s urban core.

The NCUA board has issued a proposal to clarify that section of the rules.

Congress gave the NCUA the right to set the parameters of credit union fields of membership, the agency said, in its brief, adding that the panel of judges found that the rules were “reasonable interpretations” of the law.

And the NCUA said the revised definitions reasonably interprets Congress’s intent: “facilitating close ties between members while ensuring a financially sustainable customer base.”

The agency said, “The panel’s opinion does not conflict with any decision of the Supreme Court or this Court, and rehearing is unwarranted.”