OCC's Preemption Rule Is About Keeping Market Share.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) latest rules regarding preemption, which took effect on February 12, are not in response to any recent act of Congress that redefined or otherwise changed the law. Instead they are for "clarification" regarding the supremacy of the National Bank Act of 1864! Under the OCC's new rule, the standard for preemption is that "state laws that obstruct, impair, or condition" a national bank's exercise of its powers are preempted. The OCC's standard for preemption has been built on a political platform for the promotion of its charter.