Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, LLC

Under the National Bank Act, national banks were not subject to visitorial, or oversight, powers except as authorized by federal law. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the comptroller) (plaintiff) promulgated a regulation under the National Bank Act regarding visitorial powers. The regulation prohibited state officials from prosecuting enforcement actions against national banks except in limited circumstances. In 2005, New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer requested that several national banks provide nonpublic information about their lending practices or potentially face subpoenas. Spitzer, who was later replaced by Andrew Cuomo (defendant) wanted to determine whether the banks had violated state fair-lending laws. The comptroller and the Clearing House Association (the association) (plaintiff), a banking trade group, sued Cuomo to enjoin the request for information. The comptroller and the association claimed that the comptroller’s regulation interpretating the National Bank Act prohibited states from prosecuting enforcement actions of which the information request was the first step. The district court entered an injunction in favor of the comptroller and the association. The injunction prohibited the New York attorney general from enforcing fair-lending laws. The court of appeals affirmed. Cuomo appealed.