SAN DIEGO — California Coast Credit Union and San Diego County Credit Union have formally abandoned their planned merger, ending a year-long legal battle over what would have been one of the largest credit union combinations announced in 2025.
“Under terms of a mutual agreement, the merger between Cal Coast Credit Union and SDCCU will not be moving forward,” Cal Coast spokesperson Bob Scheid told The CU Daily.
The proposed merger would have created a $13-billion credit union.
As the CU Daily has been reporting, decision follows months of litigation after SDCCU terminated the merger agreement in November 2025, citing what it alleged were significant compliance and governance deficiencies uncovered during the integration process. Cal Coast denied the allegations and sued, seeking to force SDCCU to complete the merger. The litigation led to numerous accusations from each side alleging numerous issues and exposed the salaries of some of the individuals involved.
Despite all that, Cal Coast CU CEO Todd Lane told the CU Daily there was “no bad blood” and he was hopeful the merger would continue.
As previously reported by The CU Daily, the dispute escalated through San Diego Superior Court, where Judge Carolyn Caietti denied Cal Coast’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have required SDCCU to continue pursuing the merger while the case proceeded.
What Judge Ruled
In her ruling, the judge found Cal Coast had failed to demonstrate it was likely to prevail on the merits and concluded SDCCU had presented sufficient evidence supporting its contractual basis for terminating the agreement. The court also determined that compelling two organizations engaged in active litigation to move forward with a merger would be impracticable.
The court further noted that the proposed merger still required approval from the National Credit Union Administration, which had not been granted.
Throughout the litigation, SDCCU maintained it uncovered widespread compliance shortcomings at Cal Coast during post-signing due diligence, while Cal Coast argued SDCCU improperly attempted to abandon the transaction after agreeing to the deal.
The proposed merger, announced in 2025, would have created one of California’s largest credit unions. Under the original agreement, the combined institution was to operate under the California Coast Credit Union name, with Cal Coast President and CEO Todd Lane leading the combined organization following the retirement of SDCCU President and CEO Teresa Campbell.
