Daily Real Estate News  |  August 3, 2004  |   State Legislative Group Protests OCC Preemption State lawmakers have taken a stand against new rules giving the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency greater authority to exempt national banks from state-level policing and enforcement. The National Conference of State Legislatures--a bipartisan entity representing the legislatures of all 50 states--late last month approved a policy statement to reflect its view that only Congress has the power to preempt state ordinances. The statement, which is the basis for NCSL's federal lobbying campaign, confirms the group's opposition to "any effort by the OCC to assert its regulatory authority to weaken the standard of preemption" and notes that it "supports congressional efforts to eliminate the judicial deference given to the OCC by federal courts in challenges to state financial services laws."

Source: American Banker (08/03/04)