Our podcast show this week consists of a webinar we produced on November 10, 2025, titled, “Breaking Developments in National Bank Act Preemption.” Join our panel of top legal experts as they break down how landmark court rulings are changing the rules for national banks, examine the growing application of state law, and discuss what these changes mean for compliance, risk, and the future of consumer financial services.… Continue Reading
national bank act
OCC Proposes to Clarify Activities Permissible for National Trust Banks
On January 12, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its national bank chartering regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 5.20, to clarify a point the agency views as well settled: national banks chartered as trust companies may engage in certain non-fiduciary activities in addition to fiduciary activities.… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast episode: First Circuit Rules National Bank Act Does Not Preempt Rhode Island State Law: Is There Still Any Advantage to Having a National Bank Charter?
As our regular podcast listeners know, we ordinarily release a new podcast show once each week on Thursday. On a very few occasions, we have released a special extra podcast show during the same week. We have only done that when a development occurs which we feel is of extraordinary importance and time sensitive.… Continue Reading
This week’s podcast episode: State fair access and debanking laws bring country’s political and cultural divisions to the fore
Our podcast listeners are very familiar with federal fair lending and anti-discrimination laws that apply in the consumer lending area: the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA). Those statutes prohibit discriminating against certain protected classes of consumer credit applicants. For example, the ECOA makes it unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract); the applicant’s use of a public assistance program to receive all or part of their income; or the applicant’s previous good-faith exercise of any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.… Continue Reading
In finding no National Bank Act Preemption, Ninth Circuit Ignores Supreme Court Directive in and Pays Lip Service to Cantero v. Bank of America Opinion Regarding NBA Preemption
In a surprising quick turn of events, on remand from SCOTUS, the 9th Circuit, on August 23, 2024, issued its unanimous unpublished panel opinion in Kivett v. Flagstar Bank, FSB (Kivett II) in which it essentially re-affirmed its earlier panel opinion holding that there is no preemption of a California state law which requires the payment of 2% interest on residential mortgage escrow accounts.… Continue Reading
OCC to review its preemption interpretations in light of Supreme Court opinion and state debanking laws
On July 17, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered prepared remarks before the Exchequer Club entitled “Size, Complexity, and Polarization in Banking.”
These were his first public remarks about the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Cantero v. Bank of America. In that case, the Court reversed a Second Circuit opinion which had held that because of preemption a national bank need not comply with a New York law which requires the payment of 2% interest on residential mortgage escrow accounts.… Continue Reading
Supreme Court punts another NBA preemption case; this time to the Ninth Circuit
On June 10, 2024, the Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari and issued a summary disposition in Flagstar Bank, N.A. v. Kivett. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for further consideration in light of the court’s recent decision in Cantero v.… Continue Reading
Supreme Court punts the NBA preemption analysis back to the Second Circuit
On May 30, 2024, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A., and remanded it back to the Second Circuit and instructed the appellate court to analyze whether New York’s law requiring interest to be paid on mortgage escrow accounts is preempted under the Dodd-Frank Act by applying the Barnett Bank standard.… Continue Reading
Important National Bank Act (NBA) preemption case to be argued tomorrow, February 27, before US Supreme Court
The oral argument in Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A. will be heard on Tuesday, February 27 before the US Supreme Court. The Court recently granted the unopposed motion of the Solicitor General to participate in the oral argument. The Solicitor General will be taking 10 minutes of the oral argument time allocated to the Petitioners.… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Grants Cert for Interest-on-Escrow Preemption Case
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to hear the Second Circuit case of Cantero et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., involving National Bank Act (NBA) preemption of New York’s law requiring that interest be paid to consumers on mortgage escrow account funds. The decision would address a split between the Second and Ninth Circuits on the topic of NBA preemption of state “interest-on-escrow” laws.… Continue Reading