Real Reform Won’t Allow National Banks to Ignore State Laws Targeting New Abuses Not Yet Addressed in Federal Law
Urgent Recommendation to Joint Conference Committee on Financial Reform:
Keep the House language that requires a “substantive federal standard” before allowing national banks to ignore state consumer protection laws.
The House bill prohibits the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from giving national banks immunity from state law unless federal law provides a “substantive standard” regulating the activity in question. In other words, the OCC cannot “replace a state lending rule with nothing,” which is what the OCC has done over the last decade. The OCC continues to be hostile to consumer protection, opposing key provisions of the Credit CARD Act and a strong consumer watchdog. Letting the OCC replace “something with nothing” leaves consumers unprotected.