ABA to Continue Courtroom Battles with NCUA

WASHINGTON-The American Bankers Association is looking for opportunities to continue to challenge NCUA decision in the courts, according to Chairman Harris Simmons, CEO of Zions Bank. In a recent column in ABA Banking Journal, he stated that the ABA will continue to educate federal lawmakers “about the competitive inequalities that exist between banks and aggressive, bank-like credit unions.” Simmons followed up, “ABA and its partners, the state bankers associations, will continue to pursue potential court cases like those we filed in Utah and Pennsylvania in November against the National Credit Union Administration.” He added that ABA will also continue encouraging credit unions to convert to mutual savings banks and said he was pleased that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) is looking into the justification of the credit union tax-exemption. “The hearing raised important questions about whether credit unions deserve their federal tax exemption,” Simmons wrote.