District Court Affirms Credit Union Bank Acquisition Application Denial

The District Court of Lancaster County dealt another blow to an out-of-state credit union’s plan to purchase a tax-paying Nebraska bank.  Nebraska District Court Judge Ryan Post affirmed the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance's 2021 denial of the application filed by Premier Bank, wherein GreenState Credit Union would have acquired the bank’s entire operation.
 
GreenState Credit Union (formerly the University of Iowa Credit Union) last summer announced plans to purchase Premier Bank, with locations in Omaha and Nebraska City. Premier Bank initially argued that its application should be approved under the cross-industry merger/acquisition statute or the Nebraska “wild-card” statute. The NDBF denied the application. On appeal, Judge Post agreed with the NDBF, stating that the “wild-card” statute does not grant Premier Bank the authority to sell substantially all of its assets to a credit union, which would result in the bank going out of business.
 
Your NBA legal team (Bob Hallstrom, Jerry Stilmock, and Ryan McIntosh), together with the Attorney General’s office, representing the NDBF, presented oral arguments in the matter in early May. Premier Bank may appeal the decision to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
 
Your NBA team will continue to aggressively work to level the playing field between tax-subsidized credit unions and Nebraska banks.