Banking Law Committee Journal - Spring 2019

     

    Banking

    Greetings from the Chair

    Jonice Gray Tucker

    Welcome to the March 2019 edition of the Banking Law Committee Journal! We are pleased to re-launch this publication with a new twist. We will be giving more extensive and in-depth treatment to the cutting edge topics we feature in this and subsequent editions. In this edition, you will find four great articles from amazing authors.

    In This Issue

    Banking

    Federal banking law preemption in the post-Dodd Frank world: A review of significant developments

    Gregory D. Omer

    Federal preemption has long been a battleground in U.S. banking law. In the years leading to the financial crisis of 2008, federal and state bank regulators regularly sparred over preemption issues, particularly with regard to various interpretive letters and regulations in which the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “OTS”) asserted that federal law preempted state legal requirements.

    Banking

    New York Licensed Lender Annual Fee Authority to Sunset. Or Will It?

    Tom Quinn

    The New York Licensed Lender Act (the "Act"), which is nestled within the Empire State's Banking Laws, requires the licensure of nonbank lenders that extend consumer-purpose credit in amounts of $25,000 or less (or for business or commercial purposes in amounts of $50,000 or less) at a rate in excess of New York's civil usury limit. Like several other state lending laws in New York, the Act is a "no other charge" law, meaning that only those fees expressly authorized by the Act are permitted.

    Banking

    Bank Holding Companies – The Case for Not Firing the Federal Reserve

    Thomas Homberg

    A curious phenomenon has occurred over the last couple of years. A number of institutions have re-examined their corporate structure and concluded that the tried and true bank holding company structure is no longer necessary or advisable. Notably, Bank of the Ozarks, Bancorp South and Zions Bancorp, all elected to merge their holding companies into their subsidiary banks, eliminating the Federal Reserve as a regulator. While the specific reasons vary from institution to institution, some of the common themes include reduced regulatory oversight, simplified financial reporting and reduced administrative burdens and costs. Financial and legal advisors have picked up on the bandwagon and some are now pushing the concept as a way to simplify operations.

    Banking

    Controlling Skynet: Regulatory Risks in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

    Melanie Brody, Eric T. Mitzenmacher, and Joy Tsai

    Technological advancements constantly reshape America’s banking and consumer finance ecosystem. Today, artificial intelligence (“AI”) is among the most intriguing technologies driving financial decision-making. Powerful enough on its own to warrant significant investment, AI has even more transformative potential when coupled with industry momentum toward greater use of “big data” and alternative or non-traditional sources of information.