National Credit Union Admin. v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 522 U.S. 479, 26 (1998)

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504

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMIN. v. FIRST NAT. BANK & TRUST CO.

O'Connor, J., dissenting

that they are "adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute." Ibid.; see Air Courier Conference v. Postal Workers, 498 U. S. 517, 523 (1991); Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, 497 U. S. 871, 882-883 (1990). The two aspects of that requirement correspond to the familiar concepts in standing doctrine of "injury in fact" under Article III of the Constitution and "zone of interests" under our prudential standing principles. See, e. g., Bennett v. Spear, 520 U. S. 154, 162 (1997).

First, respondents must show that they are "adversely affected or aggrieved," i. e., have suffered injury in fact. Air Courier, supra, at 523; National Wildlife Federation, supra, at 883. In addition, respondents must establish that the injury they assert is "within the meaning of a relevant statute," i. e., satisfies the zone-of-interests test. Air Courier, supra, at 523; National Wildlife Federation, supra, at 883, 886. Specifically, "the plaintiff must establish that the injury he complains of (his aggrievement, or the adverse effect upon him), falls within the 'zone of interests' sought to be protected by the statutory provision whose violation forms the legal basis for his complaint." National Wildlife Federation, supra, at 883; see also Air Courier, supra, at 523-524.

The "injury respondents complain of," as the Court explains, is that the NCUA's interpretation of the common bond provision "allows persons who might otherwise be their customers to be . . . customers" of petitioner AT&T Family Federal Credit Union. Ante, at 488, n. 4. Put another way, the injury is a loss of respondents' customer base to a competing entity, or more generally, an injury to respondents' commercial interest as a competitor. The relevant question under the zone-of-interests test, then, is whether injury to respondents' commercial interest as a competitor "falls within the zone of interests sought to be protected by the [common bond] provision." E. g., Air Courier, supra, at 523-524. For instance, in Data Processing, where the plain-tiffs—like respondents here—alleged competitive injury to

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