In a letter today, today, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood strongly affirmed the OCC’s continued support for federal preemption of state laws for national banks and federal thrifts.
The letter was sent to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which recently challenged OCC regulations under a presidential executive order. “Contrary to your assertions,” Hood wrote, “the OCC’s preemption regulations are wholly consistent with Dodd-Frank and Supreme Court precedent and thus meet the requirements of EO 14219. For your awareness, the OCC reviewed its preemption regulations following Dodd-Frank’s enactment.”
Hood also defended preemption as pro-competitive. “Federal preemption has proven to be a powerful enabler of local and national prosperity and growth,” he wrote. “Federally chartered banks, many of which operate across state lines . . . may rely on preemption to remove barriers and achieve efficiencies associated with a uniform set of rules. Thus, federal preemption has helped to foster the development of national products and services and multi-state markets, which have benefitted individuals and businesses in every state and powered this Nation’s economy.”
Hood’s letter follows a letter from ABA challenging CSBS claims and urging OCC to defend its National Bank Act preemption determinations. The association noted that CSBS’ assertions “appear to rest on misinterpretations of legislative history, regulatory text and case law and overlook the importance and structure of our nation’s dual banking system.”
