The U.S. Supreme Court turned away an appeal by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), Nomura Holdings (NMR) and two other banks, in a case stemming from the collapse of two credit unions that owned more than $1.7 billion in mortgage-backed securities, according to an article in Bloomberg.

The article explained that the court refused to derail federal government lawsuits that seek billions of dollars over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities.

At issue was how much time federal agencies have to file lawsuits. The high court appeal centered on a provision, known as the Extender Statute, enacted as part of the 1989 law that bailed out the savings and loan industry. The Extender Statute gave government agencies longer to press at least some cases.

The banks appealing in the case also included units of Wells Fargo & Co. and Novation Cos. The group had backing from three industry trade associations.