I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5251 
To clarify the applicability of State law to national banks, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 7, 2004 
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. SHERMAN, 
Ms. WATERS, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. MCCARTHY 
of New York, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PAUL, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA´, Mr. BRADY
of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DINGELL, Ms. LEE, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 
ACKERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WAXMAN, and Mrs. 
MALONEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To clarify the applicability of State law to national banks, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preservation of Fed-
eralism in Banking Act’’.
‘‘(B) was enacted pursuant to or in accord-
ance with, and is consistent with, an Act of 
Congress, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley 
Act and the Consumer Credit Protection Act, 
that permits States to exceed or supplement the 
requirements of any comparable Federal law, 
shall apply to any national bank. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply with respect to any State law if— 
‘‘(A) the State law discriminates against 
national banks; or 
‘‘(B) the State law is inconsistent with 
other provisions of Federal law, but only to the 
extent of the inconsistency (as determined in 
accordance with the other provision of Federal 
law). 
‘‘(c) NO NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS
FOR APPLICA-
BILITY OF OTHER STATE LAWS.—No provision of this 
section shall be construed as altering or affecting the ap-
plicability, to national banks, of any State law which is 
not described in subsection (a) or (b).’’. 
(b) DENIAL OF PREEMPTION NOT A DEPRIVATION OF 
A CIVIL RIGHT.—The preemption of any provision of the 
law of any State with respect to any national bank shall 
not be treated as a right, privilege, or immunity for pur-
poses of section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (42 U.S.C. 1983). 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 1 of title LXII of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 5136B the following new item: 
‘‘5136C. State law preemption standards for national banks and subsidiaries 
clarified.’’. 
SEC. 3. VISITORIAL STANDARDS. 
Section 5136C of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States (as added by section 2(a) of this Act) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) VISITORIAL POWERS.—No provision of this title 
which relates to visitorial powers or otherwise limits or re-
stricts the supervisory, examination, or regulatory author-
ity to which any national bank is subject shall be con-
strued as limiting or restricting the authority of any attor-
ney general (or other chief law enforcement officer) of any 
State to bring any action in any court of appropriate juris-
diction— 
‘‘(1) to enforce any applicable Federal or State 
law, as authorized by such law; or 
‘‘(2) on behalf of residents of such State, to en-
force any applicable provision of any Federal or 
State law against a national bank, as authorized by 
such law, or to seek relief and recover damages for
such residents from any violation of any such law by 
any national bank.’’. 
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF LAW APPLICABLE TO STATE- 
CHARTERED NONDEPOSITORY INSTITUTION 
SUBSIDIARIES. 
Section 5136C of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States (as added by section 2(a) of this Act) is amended 
by inserting after subsection (d) (as added by section 3) 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) CLARIFICATION OF LAW APPLICABLE TO NON-
DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION SUBSIDIARIES OF NATIONAL 
BANKS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No provision of this title 
shall be construed as preempting the applicability of 
State law to any State-chartered nondepository insti-
tution subsidiary of a national bank, except to the 
extent the preemption is explicitly provided by an 
Act of Congress. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(A) 
DEPOSITORY
INSTITUTION, 
SUB-
SIDIARY.—The terms ‘depository institution’ 
and ‘subsidiary’ have the same meanings as in 
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
‘‘(B) NONDEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The 
term ‘nondepository institution’ means any enti-
ty that is not a depository institution.’’. 
SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. 
(a) COLLECTING AND MONITORING CONSUMER COM-
PLAINTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller of the Cur-
rency shall record and monitor each complaint re-
ceived directly or indirectly from a consumer regard-
ing a national bank or any subsidiary of a national 
bank and record the resolution of the complaint. 
(2) FACTORS TO BE INCLUDED.—In carrying 
out the requirements of paragraph (1), the Comp-
troller of the Currency shall include— 
(A) the date the consumer complaint was 
received; 
(B) the nature of the complaint; 
(C) when and how the complaint was re-
solved, including a brief description of the ex-
tent, and the results, of the investigation made 
by the Comptroller into the complaint, a brief 
description of any notices given and inquiries 
made to any other Federal or State officer or 
agency in the course of the investigation or res-
olution of the complaint, a summary of the en-
forcement action taken upon completion of the 
investigation, and a summary of the results of 
subsequent periodic reviews by the Comptroller 
of the extent and nature of compliance by such 
national bank or subsidiary with the enforce-
ment action; and 
(D) if the complaint involves any alleged 
violation of a State law (whether or not Federal 
law preempts the application of such State law 
to such national bank) by such bank, a cite to 
and a description of the State law that formed 
the basis of the complaint. 
(b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.— 
(1) 
PERIODIC
REPORTS
REQUIRED.—The 
Comptroller of the Currency shall submit a report 
semi-annually to the Congress on the consumer pro-
tection efforts of the Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency. 
(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The total number of consumer com-
plaints received by the Comptroller during the 
period covered by the report with respect to al-
leged violations of consumer protection laws by
national banks and subsidiaries of national 
banks. 
(B) The total number of consumer com-
plaints received during the reporting period that 
are based on each of the following: 
(i) Each title of the Consumer Credit 
Protection Act (reported as a separate ag-
gregate number for each such title). 
(ii) The Truth in Savings Act. 
(iii) The Right to Financial Privacy 
Act of 1978. 
(iv) The Expedited Funds Availability 
Act. 
(v) The Community Reinvestment Act 
of 1977. 
(vi) The Bank Protection Act of 1968. 
(vii) Title LXII of the Revised Stat-
utes of the United States. 
(viii) The Federal Deposit Insurance 
Act. 
(ix) The Real Estate Settlement Pro-
cedures Act of 1974. 
(x) The Home Mortgage Disclosure 
Act of 1975. 
(xi) Any other Federal law.