Are the banks you work for chartered by the state banking department or the OCC?
The state banking departments or credit union regulators have zero authority over Federally chartered institutions. The Texas Department of Banking can enter a national bank but have no more authority than that agency would have over a sheet metal fabricator or a wholesale food distributor. Only the OCC and the Federal Reserve (in the latter case if the national bank has a bank holding company) have the authority to review the records of a national bank or a Federally chartered savings association.
A national bank or other Federally chartered financial institution is subject to state taxing authority or the state corporation commission if the Federally chartered financial institution has a bank holding company. If you are at a national bank, you may be seeing auditors from the state tax authority.
Nevertheless, state governments do have leverage over national banks because state agencies and pension funds have enormous deposit funds on which they can set conditions. There is also the publicity leverage; in a liberal state like New York, there is a lot of support for gun grabbing. Conversely, conservative states like Texas and Florida have used their influence to discourage banks from supporting ESG initiatives.
Supreme Court Announces Standard For Determining Whether Federal Law Preempts State Laws Regulating National Banks
Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A., No. 22-529 – Decided May 30, 2024
Today, the Supreme Court held 9-0 that there is no categorical rule for determining whether federal law preempts state banking laws when applied to national banks, and instead adopted a test focused on whether the law interferes with a national bank’s exercise of its powers.
What It Means:
The Supreme Court expressly rejected the competing categorical approaches advanced by the parties. The Court declined to adopt the bank’s proposed rule, which would “preempt virtually all state laws that regulate national banks.” It also rejected the plaintiffs’ proposed preemption standard, which would “preempt virtually no non-discriminatory state laws.”