• Key insight: Comptroller Jonathan Gould referenced the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's founding by Abraham Lincoln as the basis for federal preemption policy. 
• Forward look: He said the OCC will continue to file briefs with federal courts on the subject so that there will be a robust record to shore up the agency's argument. 
• Expert quote: "One of the key pillars of an economic union is federal preemption, which enables nationwide markets to arise," Gould said. 

WASHINGTON — Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould pushed back against concerns about the posture of his agency toward federal preemption of state banking policy in remarks at a banking conference on Tuesday. 

Gould, speaking at the Institute of International Bankers' Washington conference Tuesday, said that the OCC will continue to file briefs to courts across the country to shore up the agency's position under his leadership that would strengthen federal preemption of state banking laws. Gould's views on the subject have been controversial with some banking interests in D.C., particularly those representing state banking regulators. 

"One of the key pillars of an economic union is federal preemption, which enables nationwide markets to arise," Gould said in a fireside chat hosted at the conference.  

Gould said that the OCC will continue to aggressively weigh in on the legal parameters around preemption. 

"One of the things I think it's important to recognize is that preemption — federal preemption — is not solely the purview of national banks," Gould said. 

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, a group that represents state banking regulators, has argued that the OCC's position under Gould on preemption exceeds the agency's authority. A recent proposal that would exempt national banks from paying interest to homeowners on funds held in mortgage escrow for taxes and insurance, for example, would "fail to meet the requirements set by Congress and the U.S. courts governing preemption of state consumer protection laws," according to the group. 

"No matter how hard they try, the OCC cannot regulate around Congress and the courts," said CSBS President and CEO Brandon Milhorn in a statement earlier this year. "The OCC's interest-on-escrow regulatory proposals would erode 50 years of state law designed to protect consumers."

Gould, speaking in general terms rather than in reference to CSBS' position in particular, dismissed concerns that the agency's position goes too far. 

"I wish that certain, you know, groups, other trade associations, that make a lot of noise and criticize the OCC over its federal preemption commitment put in the same effort defending their own state bank members as we do," he said. 

The OCC and Gould will pursue their view of federal preemption in both courts, the executive branch and in Congress, where lawmakers are considering rules that touch on preemption issues. The recently passed GENIUS Act, which sets rules for stablecoin issuance, for example, allows Special Purpose Depository Institutions to operate in states other than the one they chartered in without approval from the nonhost state regulator. 

"As a Comptroller and the temporary steward of the federal banking system, the OCC is going to continue to weigh in on the legal parameters around preemption in the courts … but it's absolutely critical that we shore up the political support that is the prerequisite to legal preemption," Gould said. "One of my strategies is not just to do the bare bones. Yes, we're going to file amicus briefs. Yes, we're going to weigh in forcefully in the courts on the legal parameters of preemption."