Can Banks Protest the Conversion of Credit Unions to Community Credit Unions ?

In Pennsylvania Bankers Association v. Pennsylvania Department of Banking, 893 A.2d 864 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006), three credit unions gave notice to the Department of their intent to convert to community credit unions. Several banks protested and filed petitions for intervention pursuant to 1 Pa. Code 35.24. The Secretary of Banking dismissed the banks as intervenors because they failed to prove standing during hearings conducted by the Department. The Court held that, where a financial institution that is not governed by the Credit Union Code protests a credit union charter conversion application and files a petition for intervention, the financial institution must satisfy traditional tests for standing during a hearing conducted by the Department. Pennsylvania Bankers Association.