The Independent Insurance Agents of America said Friday  it would sue the government to prevent national banks from selling crop   insurance.   
The insurance group said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency  exceeded its authority when it ruled banks are not restricted to selling   crop insurance only in small-town agencies.   
  
The suit is expected to be filed in the next two weeks, the group said.
"Congress has specifically stated, without exception, that all national  bank insurance sales activities must originate in small towns," group   president Bud Wilson said. "The OCC's ruling effectively guts this   statutorily mandated requirement and grants national banks free reign to do   as they please in the crop insurance market."       
  
In a Dec. 29 letter to an Iowa Bankers Association subsidiary, the OCC  exempted crop insurance from the small-town rule, arguing that it is a   credit product rather than an insurance policy.   
An OCC spokesman would not comment on the insurance agents' plans. But  agency officials said they are "confident their position is correct."