WASHINGTON—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has released the briefing schedule for the appeal of the U.S. District Court decision in the American Bankers Association (ABA) lawsuit that challenged NCUA's field of membership (FOM) rule.
The lower court upheld two challenged portions of NCUA's FOM rule and struck down two provisions in the lawsuit filed against the agency.
According to the briefing schedule, the NCUA's opening brief is due Dec. 5; ABA's opening brief is due Jan. 4, 2019, reported NAFCU, which maintains that FOM reforms are well within the NCUA's legal authority.
The provisions declared to exceed the NCUA's statutory authority include those that automatically qualify a combined statistical area (CSA) with fewer than 2.5 million people to be a local community and the increase to one-million people the population limit for rural districts.
The NCUA appealed the decision in May and ABA cross-appealed in June.
In December 2016, the ABA filed suit against the NCUA over this rule, which took effect in February 2017. NAFCU filed an amicus brief supporting NCUA's FOM rule last June.