[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2973 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 2973

 To clarify the applicability of State law to national banks, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 9, 2004

  Mr. Corzine (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
  Lautenberg, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; which was 
read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To clarify the applicability of State law to national banks, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Preservation of Federalism in 
Banking Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE LAW PREEMPTION STANDARDS FOR NATIONAL BANKS CLARIFIED.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title LXII of the Revised Statutes of 
the United States (12 U.S.C. 21 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 5136B (12 U.S.C. 25a) the following new section:

``SEC. 5136C. STATE LAW PREEMPTION STANDARDS FOR NATIONAL BANKS AND 
              SUBSIDIARIES CLARIFIED.

    ``(a) State Consumer Laws of General Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        Federal law, any State consumer law of general application 
        (including any law relating to unfair or deceptive acts or 
        practices and any consumer fraud law) shall apply to any 
        national bank.
            ``(2) National bank defined.--For purposes of this section, 
        the term `national bank' includes any Federal branch 
        established in accordance with the International Banking Act of 
        1978.
    ``(b) State Banking Laws Enacted Pursuant to Federal Law.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        Federal law and except as provided in paragraph (2), any State 
        law that--
                    ``(A) is applicable to State banks; and
                    ``(B) was enacted pursuant to or in accordance 
                with, and is consistent with, an Act of Congress, 
                including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Consumer 
                Credit Protection Act, that permits States to exceed or 
                supplement the requirements of any comparable Federal 
                law,
        shall apply to any national bank.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply with 
        respect to any State law if--
                    ``(A) the State law discriminates against national 
                banks; or
                    ``(B) the State law is inconsistent with other 
                provisions of Federal law, but only to the extent of 
                the inconsistency (as determined in accordance with the 
                other provision of Federal law).
    ``(c) No Negative Implications for Applicability of Other State 
Laws.--No provision of this section shall be construed as altering or 
affecting the applicability, to national banks, of any State law which 
is not described in subsection (a) or (b).''.
    (b) Denial of Preemption Not a Deprivation of a Civil Right.--The 
preemption of any provision of the laws of any State with respect to 
any national bank shall not be treated as a right, privilege, or 
immunity for purposes of section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (42 U.S.C. 1983).
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 1 of 
title LXII of the Revised Statutes of the United States, is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 5136B the following new 
item:

``5136C. State law preemption standards for national banks and 
                            subsidiaries clarified.''.

SEC. 3. VISITORIAL STANDARDS.

    Section 5136C of the Revised Statutes of the United States (as 
added by section 2(a) of this Act) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(d) Visitorial Powers.--No provision of this title which relates 
to visitorial powers or otherwise limits or restricts the supervisory, 
examination, or regulatory authority to which any national bank is 
subject shall be construed as limiting or restricting the authority of 
any attorney general (or other chief law enforcement officer) of any 
State to bring any action in any court of appropriate jurisdiction--
            ``(1) to enforce any applicable Federal or State law, as 
        authorized by such law; or
            ``(2) on behalf of residents of such State, to enforce any 
        applicable provision of any Federal or State law against a 
        national bank, as authorized by such law, or to seek relief and 
        recover damages for such residents from any violation of any 
        such law by any national bank.''.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF LAW APPLICABLE TO STATE-CHARTERED 
              NONDEPOSITORY INSTITUTION SUBSIDIARIES.

    Section 5136C of the Revised Statutes of the United States (as 
added and amended by this Act) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(e) Clarification of Law Applicable to Nondepository Institution 
Subsidiaries of National Banks.--
            ``(1) In general.--No provision of this title shall be 
        construed as preempting the applicability of State law to any 
        State-chartered nondepository institution subsidiary of a 
        national bank, except to the extent that the preemption is 
        explicitly provided by an Act of Congress.
            ``(2) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        terms `depository institution' and `subsidiary' have the same 
        meanings as in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 
        Act.''.

SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.

    (a) Collecting and Monitoring Consumer Complaints.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller of the Currency shall 
        record and monitor each complaint received directly or 
        indirectly from a consumer regarding a national bank or any 
        subsidiary of a national bank and record the resolution of the 
        complaint.
            (2) Factors to be included.--In carrying out the 
        requirements of paragraph (1), the Comptroller of the Currency 
        shall include--
                    (A) the date on which the consumer complaint was 
                received;
                    (B) the nature of the complaint;
                    (C) when and how the complaint was resolved, 
                including a brief description of the extent, and the 
                results, of the investigation made by the Comptroller 
                into the complaint, a brief description of any notices 
                given and inquiries made to any other Federal or State 
                officer or agency in the course of the investigation or 
                resolution of the complaint, a summary of the 
                enforcement action taken upon completion of the 
                investigation, and a summary of the results of 
                subsequent periodic reviews by the Comptroller of the 
                extent and nature of compliance by such national bank 
                or subsidiary with the enforcement action; and
                    (D) if the complaint involves any alleged violation 
                of a State law (whether or not Federal law preempts the 
                application of such State law to such national bank) by 
                such bank, a cite to and a description of the State law 
                that formed the basis of the complaint.
    (b) Report to the Congress.--
            (1) Periodic reports required.--The Comptroller of the 
        Currency shall submit a report semi-annually to the Congress on 
        the consumer protection efforts of the Office of the 
        Comptroller of the Currency.
            (2) Contents of report.--Each report submitted under 
        paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) The total number of consumer complaints 
                received by the Comptroller during the period covered 
                by the report with respect to alleged violations of 
                consumer protection laws by national banks and 
                subsidiaries of national banks.
                    (B) The total number of consumer complaints 
                received during the reporting period that are based on 
                each of the following:
                            (i) Each title of the Consumer Credit 
                        Protection Act (reported as a separate 
                        aggregate number for each such title).
                            (ii) The Truth in Savings Act.
                            (iii) The Right to Financial Privacy Act of 
                        1978.
                            (iv) The Expedited Funds Availability Act.
                            (v) The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.
                            (vi) The Bank Protection Act of 1968.
                            (vii) Title LXII of the Revised Statutes of 
                        the United States.
                            (viii) The Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
                            (ix) The Real Estate Settlement Procedures 
                        Act of 1974
                            (x) The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 
                        1975.
                            (xi) Any other Federal law.
                            (xii) State consumer protection laws 
                        (reported as a separate aggregate number for 
                        each State and each State consumer protection 
                        law).
                            (xiii) Any other State law (reported 
                        separately for each State and each State law).
                    (C) A summary description of the resolution efforts 
                by the Comptroller for complaints received during the 
                period covered, including--
                            (i) the average amount of time to resolve 
                        each complaint;
                            (ii) the median period of time to resolve 
                        each complaint;
                            (iii) the average and median time to 
                        resolve complaints in each category of 
                        complaints described in each clause of 
                        subparagraph (B); and
                            (iv) a summary description of the longest 
                        outstanding complaint during the reporting 
                        period and the reason for the difficulty in 
                        resolving such complaint in a more timely 
                        fashion.
            (3) Disclosure of report on occ website.--Each report 
        submitted to the Congress under this subsection shall be posted 
        by the Comptroller of the Currency in a timely fashion, and 
        maintained on the website of the Office of the Comptroller of 
        the Currency on the World Wide Web.
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