Month: January 2026

On January 21, the Defendants-Appellees filed their response to the petition for rehearing in National Association of Industrial Bankers v. Weiser, i arguing that en banc review is not warranted because (i) the Panel Opinion does not conflict with the Eighth Circuit’s decision in Jessup v. Pulaski Bank, ii , (ii) the Panel Opinion correctly applies Supreme Court precedent on express preemption and (iii) the Panel Opinion is a routine statutory interpretation, not a question of exceptional public importance…
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On Friday, January 9, 2026 President Trump kicked off a week of uncertainty for the credit card industry when he took to social media to revive his support for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates beginning on January 20, 2026. An idea he initially floated on the 2024 campaign trail, his recent post on Truth Social called for a one year, 10% cap on credit card interest with the stated goal of improving “affordability.” The president doubled down on his stance on Sunday evening…
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The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) has announced that it will resume accepting pennies from banks and credit unions at commercial coin distribution locations beginning January 14. See our ALERT of Dec. 26, 2025. The FRB had stopped accepting penny deposits at some commercial coin distribution locations late last year – exacerbating penny shortages in some areas and prompting U.S. Treasury guidance on rounding cash transactions to the nearest…
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On November 5, the appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Riffard v. Bank of America N.A. was voluntarily dismissed before briefing began. In 2022, the Circuit Court of Milwaukee County had held that the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts the Wisconsin notice of default and right to cure notice (RTC) provisions of the Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA),1 finding that the RTC provisions impermissibly limit a national bank’s ability to set the terms of credit.2 A 2018 Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions letter came to the same result.3 But in a February 18, 2025 opinion, the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin reversed the Circuit Court’s decision and remanded, finding that NBA preemption did not apply, characterizing the RTC provisions as a (mere) “procedural” requirement to access…
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How many times have you heard someone suggest giving the regulator a call?

Legal issues arising in connection with statutes and regulations that are subject to a state or federal regulatory authority can and frequently do involve difficult interpretations. The statutes and regulations often contain ambiguities, lack of definitiveness and, all too frequently, apparently contradictory provisions. Sorting through this morass and applying rules of statutory construction is the job of an attorney…
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Just before Christmas, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued two notices of proposed rulemaking regarding national banks’ and federal savings associations’ real estate lending powers with respect to the payment of interest on funds held in escrow accounts. The first asserts “longstanding powers of national banks and federal savings associations to establish or maintain real estate lending escrow accounts and to exercise flexibility in making business judgment as to the terms and conditions of such accounts, including whether and to what extent to offer any compensation paid to customers or to assess any related fees.” The second is a preemption determination that concludes that federal law preempts the New York interest-on-escrow law that was the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Cantero v Bank…
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