"Lawyers for the Federal Reserve Board filed an appeal Monday against a judgment that invalidated its 2011 rule placing a cap on debit interchange fees," writes American Banker's Donna Borak.
"The board exercised its rulemaking authority in complete fealty to the text and the purpose of the statue notwithstanding congressional silence on important issues," according to the 113-page brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals. "This is precisely what Congress expects when it delegates rulemaking authority to federal agencies, and the board's interpretations are entitled to deference as a result."
In the brief, the Fed argued it had followed congressional intent in drafting the provision required under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which mandated that the central bank establish how much banks can charge merchants in interchange fees for debit cards.
The Fed also said it had created a standard for assessing whether interchange fees were "reasonable and proportional." Additionally stated in the brief, the Fed highlighted the fact that fees had been cut to almost half of their pre-rule levels.
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