BankThink

Dodd-Frank's Impact on Preemption: Unchanged So Far

The California Supreme Court last week ruled in favor of preemption in a financial services case. The issue doesn't directly involve the Dodd-Frank Act, but has implications for its role in the preemption of state banking laws.

In the case an MBNA (now part of Bank of America) customer claimed the company failed to provide disclosures on convenience checks offered and the California Court of Appeals had previously ruled in his favor. The California Supreme Court overturned the decision, stating "we know of no case decided by our court or by the United States Supreme Court in which the issue of preemption turned on whether a national bank made an adequate factual showing that state law significantly impaired its federally authorized powers"

Again, what exactly does this have to do with Dodd-Frank?

"The Dodd-Frank Act made changes to preemption standards, but their impact is still unclear," writes Donna Borak in American Banker’s coverage of the decision. "The California ruling did not rely on the Dodd-Frank Act, but may strengthen the perception that preemption remains mostly unchanged since the regulatory reform law was enacted."

For the full piece see "California Supreme Court Upholds Preemption in Win for National Banks" (may require registration).

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Law and regulation
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