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location physically segregated from an area
where retail deposits are routinely accepted.
‘‘(B) REFERRALS.—Standards which per-
mit any person accepting deposits from the
public in an area where such transactions are
routinely conducted in an insured depository in-
stitution to refer a customer who seeks to pur-
chase any nondeposit product to a qualified per-
son who sells such product, only if the person
making the referral receives no more than a
one-time nominal fee of a fixed dollar amount
for each referral that does not depend on
whether the referral results in a transaction.
‘‘(C) QUALIFICATION AND LICENSING RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Standards prohibiting any in-
sured depository institution from permitting
any person to sell or offer for sale any non-
deposit product in any part of any office of the
institution, or on behalf of the institution, un-
less such person is appropriately qualified and
licensed.
‘‘(e) CUSTOMER GRIEVANCE PROCESS.—The Federal
banking agencies shall jointly establish a customer com-
plaint mechanism, for receiving and expeditiously address-
159
ing customer complaints alleging a violation of regulations
issued under this section, which mechanism shall—
‘‘(1) establish a group within each regulatory
agency to receive such complaints;
‘‘(2) develop procedures for investigating such
complaints;
‘‘(3) develop procedures for informing cus-
tomers of rights they may have in connection with
such complaints; and
‘‘(4) develop procedures for addressing concerns
raised by such complaints, as appropriate, including
procedures for the recovery of losses to the extent
appropriate.
‘‘(f) EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No provision of this section
shall be construed as granting, limiting, or otherwise
affecting—
‘‘(A) any authority of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, any self-regulatory or-
ganization, the Municipal Securities Rule-
making Board, or the Secretary of the Treasury
under any Federal securities law; or
‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (2),
any authority of any State insurance commis-
160
sioner or other State authority under any State
law.
‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH STATE LAW.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), regulations prescribed by a
Federal banking agency under this section shall
not apply to retail sales, solicitations, advertis-
ing, or offers of any nondeposit product by any
insured depository institution or to any person
who is engaged in such activities at an office of
such institution or on behalf of the institution,
in a State where the State has in effect stat-
utes, regulations, orders, or interpretations,
that are inconsistent with or contrary to the
regulations prescribed by the Federal banking
agencies.
‘‘(B) PREEMPTION.—If, with respect to
any provision of the regulations prescribed
under this section, the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of
the Currency, the Director of the Office of
Thrift Supervision, and the Board of Directors
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
determine jointly that the protection afforded
by such provision for consumers is greater than
161
the protection provided by a comparable provi-
sion of the statutes, regulations, orders, or in-
terpretations referred to in subparagraph (A) of
any State, such provision of the regulations pre-
scribed under this section shall supersede the
comparable provision of such State statute, reg-
ulation, order, or interpretation.’’.
Æ