Bank Plans Appeal of Regulator’s Decision to Deny GreenState CU Acquisition
PB CEO Chris Maher is confident that a proper interpretation of Nebraska’s law will overturn the ruling.
Premier Bank CEO and Board Chair Chris Maher said Wednesday that he will appeal the decision of the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, which denied the bank’s application to be acquired by the $7.9 billion GreenState Credit Union in North Liberty, Iowa.
“We are highly disappointed with the ruling,” Maher said. “We are confident that a proper interpretation of Nebraska law will overturn the decision and allow Nebraskans a free market to choose their preferred financial services provider.”
Maher said the bank’s appeal is expected to be filed in state court by the end of next week.
Although GreenState earlier said that it was disappointed in the regulator’s decision, it declined further comment regarding the bank’s appeal.
The NDBF released its decision to reject the credit union-bank acquisition publicly on Monday.
During a hearing held by the state’s regulator in September, lawyers representing the Omaha-based Premier Bank argued that its proposal to sell substantially all of its assets and liabilities to Iowa’s largest credit union should be approved because it is allowed by Nebraska’s so-called wildcard and cross-industry laws. However, attorneys for the Nebraska Bankers Association argued that under those state laws, the deal should not be approved, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by CU Times.
In its decision, the NDBF said Premier did not carry its burden of proof to show that there is express power under federal law for a national bank to sell substantially all of its assets to the credit union.
“In this case … there is difficulty in finding in the statutes the authority of a bank to sell substantially all of its assets as being an incidental power to the carrying on the business of banking, since Premier is not going to be carrying on the business of banking, but rather terminating it,” the NDBF order read in part.
The Oregon credit union-bank purchase agreement was the first deal challenged by bankers in 2021. The second challenge came in November when a Tennessee judge granted a temporary injunction requested by the state’s regulator that blocks the $1 billion Orion Federal Credit Union’s proposed acquisition of the $792 million Financial Federal Bank in Memphis.
A state judge is expected to decide whether to grant a permanent injunction that would prohibit the credit union-bank purchase.