evince
Truthmatters
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/19/nation/na-preempt19
The idea behind another California law was simple: Tell credit cardholders on monthly bills how long it would take to retire their debt if they paid the minimum amount.
But major banks issuing most of the nation’s credit cards didn’t like it. In a 2002 court challenge, they attacked the state’s credit disclosure law with help from a powerful ally.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency joined forces with the American Banking Assn., Citibank and other plaintiffs, arguing in a friend-of-the-court brief that the law interfered with federal authority to regulate national banks, and with powers granted to the banks by their federal charters.
A federal judge blocked the law from going into effect, and the state lost a subsequent appeal.
Intervention by the comptroller’s office “definitely tipped the balance,” said Gail Hillebrand, a lawyer for Consumers Union, which had backed the state’s position.
In recent years, the comptroller’s office on many occasions has helped national banks and their subsidiaries fend off investigations or enforcement actions by state officials on preemption grounds.
In 2004, for example, the agency helped to shoot down a California law that would have required customer permission before banks shared their personal information with business affiliates.
Although a U.S. District Court judge upheld the privacy law, an appeals court ruled last year that its major provisions were preempted by federal law.
Last year, the agency went to court on the side of a banking association to block an investigation by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer into possible racial bias in the lending practices of several banks.
A federal judge agreed that Spitzer’s investigation “impermissibly infringes” on the authority of the comptroller’s office. The state is appealing.
Turf battles over banking regulation have occurred in the past, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has become more aggressive in pushing preemption under Bush.
Agency officials say they have zero tolerance for abusive practices and bristle at complaints that they might be chasing off state watchdogs to the detriment of consumers.
The banks “have an enormous body of consumer compliance laws and regulations that we apply to them at the federal level,” said Julie L. Williams, the agency’s senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel.
But Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr., a George Washington University professor specializing in banking law, said, “The OCC hasn’t been, shall we say, a very zealous enforcer on the consumer side
The idea behind another California law was simple: Tell credit cardholders on monthly bills how long it would take to retire their debt if they paid the minimum amount.
But major banks issuing most of the nation’s credit cards didn’t like it. In a 2002 court challenge, they attacked the state’s credit disclosure law with help from a powerful ally.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency joined forces with the American Banking Assn., Citibank and other plaintiffs, arguing in a friend-of-the-court brief that the law interfered with federal authority to regulate national banks, and with powers granted to the banks by their federal charters.
A federal judge blocked the law from going into effect, and the state lost a subsequent appeal.
Intervention by the comptroller’s office “definitely tipped the balance,” said Gail Hillebrand, a lawyer for Consumers Union, which had backed the state’s position.
In recent years, the comptroller’s office on many occasions has helped national banks and their subsidiaries fend off investigations or enforcement actions by state officials on preemption grounds.
In 2004, for example, the agency helped to shoot down a California law that would have required customer permission before banks shared their personal information with business affiliates.
Although a U.S. District Court judge upheld the privacy law, an appeals court ruled last year that its major provisions were preempted by federal law.
Last year, the agency went to court on the side of a banking association to block an investigation by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer into possible racial bias in the lending practices of several banks.
A federal judge agreed that Spitzer’s investigation “impermissibly infringes” on the authority of the comptroller’s office. The state is appealing.
Turf battles over banking regulation have occurred in the past, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has become more aggressive in pushing preemption under Bush.
Agency officials say they have zero tolerance for abusive practices and bristle at complaints that they might be chasing off state watchdogs to the detriment of consumers.
The banks “have an enormous body of consumer compliance laws and regulations that we apply to them at the federal level,” said Julie L. Williams, the agency’s senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel.
But Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr., a George Washington University professor specializing in banking law, said, “The OCC hasn’t been, shall we say, a very zealous enforcer on the consumer side
Last edited:
