1.
This Act may be cited as the
Preservation of Federalism in Banking
Act
.
2.State law
preemption standards for national banks clarified
(a)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:
5136C.State Law
Preemption Standards for National Banks and Subsidiaries Clarified
(a)State Consumer
Laws of General Application
(1)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)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)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)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 lawsNo 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 RightThe 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)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.
.
3.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)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.
.
4.Clarification of
law applicable to State-chartered nondepository institution
subsidiariesSection 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)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)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.
.
5.Data Collection
and Reporting
(a)Collecting and
Monitoring Consumer Complaints
(1)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)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)
(1)Periodic reports
requiredThe 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)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 websiteEach
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.