CHICAGO—NCUA Board Member Mark McWatters believes the agency is standing on solid legal ground with its new MBL rule.
McWatters, who is an attorney and who has taught law, made his argument during NASCUS’ 2016 State System Summit here while speaking to a lawsuit filed by the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) that challenges NCUA’s final MBL rule.
“I can’t comment on lawsuits, and I am not doing that here,” said Metsger. “But I would like to say this: I have been a lawyer for 34 years and I have read a lot of statutes and regulations, given legal opinions on them, even advised members of Congress on the matters.”
McWatters said he recently read language in the Federal Credit Union Act regarding MBLs and revisited the new MBL rule.
“Afterward I asked myself, ‘Is this (new MBL rule) reasonable given the language within the statute?’ And I concluded that it easily fits.”
McWatters added that he has consistently expressed skepticism around many of NCUA’s proposed rules, but in this case, he said, “The MBL rule works, or I would not have voted in favor of it.”