The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) have jointly filed an amicus brief supporting the National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) motion to dismiss the lawsuit recently filed by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) challenging the agency's authority to issue its latest member business lending (MBL) rule.
In the brief, filed in the in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, NAFCU and CUNA argued NCUA's interpretation of the Federal Credit Union Act in the rule is "well within" the agency's legal authority. The trade groups also defended NCUA's definition of "member business loan," noting that it has not substantively changed since 2003 and by definition can only include loans made to a member of the lending credit union. "No amount of linguistic alchemy can convert the term 'member business loan' into its opposite, 'non-member business loan,'" the brief contended.
In the brief, the trade groups stated that: "Amici agree with NCUA's arguments in support of its motion to dismiss, including its threshold jurisdictional and timeliness arguments," adding that "amici also agree that the agency's conclusion — that the term 'member business loan'… does not include non-member business loans and non-member participation interests — 'follows ineluctably from the plain text of the statute,' and, at a minimum, is certainly 'a reasonable reading' of the statute that is entitled to deference."
Dan Berger, president/CEO of NAFCU, and Jim Nussle, president/CEO of CUNA, jointly stated that this amici brief "formalizes our organizations' unequivocal support for NCUA's legal authority to issue its member business lending rule. The CUNA/League system and NAFCU will continue to work together to assert the agency's jurisdiction to interpret the Federal Credit Union Act and help advance the interests of credit unions and their ability to provide critical capital to small businesses."
The joint filing comes a week after the ICBA filed a response to NCUA's brief seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.
