Republic Bancorp Inc.’s Republic Bank & Trust has filed a lawsuit against Green Dot Corp. for breaking its agreement to buy the Kentucky bank’s tax refund processing business for $165 million.

Green Dot, which is in the process of pulling its headquarters out of Pasadena and moving to Austin, Texas, made the disclosure in an Oct. 5 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It wrote that the deal to buy Republic’s tax refund business was ending after the Federal Reserve wouldn’t sign off on the deal.

“Green Dot received word that our plan to purchase Republic Bank’s Tax Refund Solutions business will not be moving forward,” Green Dot spokesman Whit Chapman said in a written statement.
 
Chapman declined to comment on the lawsuit. He explained, however, that Green Dot was “unfortunately” unable to obtain the Federal Reserve’s approval of the proposed acquisition, and as a result, the transaction could not be completed.

“We’re unable to provide details of our correspondence with our regulators, but Green Dot’s inability to receive approval should not be viewed as reflecting negatively on Republic’s Tax Refund Solutions business in any way, nor does it affect our ability to continue providing high-quality services,” he said.