The U.S. Supreme Court told a lower court Monday to take another look at a ruling that allowed NCUA to sue a group of banks for allegedly deceiving investors about mortgage-backed securities.
The justices ordered reconsideration of the ruling in light of a decision they reached earlier this month on the deadlines for filing some environmental suits.
NCUA filed claims against Wachovia Capital (now a unit of Wells Fargo & Co.) and Nomura Asset Acceptance Corp., which both originated subprime loans packaged into mortgage-backed securities that figured into the 2009 failure of WesCorp FCU.
The credit union regulator said credit unions invested $1.74 billion in mortgage-backed securities, many of which the agency says were riskier than the offering documents indicated.
The banks contend that federal securities law imposes a firm three-year deadline for suits -- a deadline they say the NCUA missed.
In ordering reconsideration, the justices pointed to a June 9 decision in a case involving environmental suits.
NCUA has filed similar lawsuits against units of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks.
The Supreme Court case is Nomura Home Equity Loan v. National Credit Union Administration, 13-576.
--Marian Raab contributed to this article
