Court Affirms Pennsylvania CUs' FOMs

HARRISBURG, Penn.–The Commonwealth Court here issued a 65-page opinion yesterday affirming the Department of Banking's orders granting broad community charters for Freedom Credit Union and TruMark Financial Credit Union.The Pennsylvania CU Association said its attorneys were still wading through the opinion and were not prepared to make any official statement beyond that it appears to be good for credit unions.Multiple legal battles over field of membership issues have been ongoing in Pennsylvania for several years. Last September, the state's Supreme Court had remanded the suit against the Pennsylvania Department of Banking back to the Commonwealth Court for hearing, finding that the state regulator had not given bankers adequate input when it granted community charters for TruMark and Freedom-the broadest FOMs ever granted by the state.