The American Bankers Association has filed a review petition in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday against a provision of the Volcker rule that prevents banks from owning certain investments.

The bank group filed the petition to begin the

legal challenge to a provision of the "Volcker rule" against the regulators. The court filing said that is the first legal challenge to the Volcker rule claimed that the provision is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law."

CB&T Bancshares Inc and its Citizens Bank and Trust Co subsidiary as well as the MBT Financial Corp and its Monroe Bank and Trust Co subsidiary joined the case. Frank Keating, the chief executive of the ABA has written a letter to the regulator stating that the group will file a legal challenge to seek emergency relief.

A spokesman for the bank group said that the two-page petition for review has been filed and the group will now file more detailed papers on Tuesday morning. The detailed documents would include the legal argument.

The ABA sent the letter to the heads of the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.