National banks should take action when state regulators pass along consumer complaints, federal regulators said Monday, clarifying their previous assertion that the federal government has dominance over state banking rules.
The banks and their subsidiaries above all must "do the right thing for their customers," said Julie L. Williams, general counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the chief regulator of nationally chartered banks.
That means addressing customers' complaints regardless of the source, she said.
In a January policy statement, the OCC said that only it -- and not states -- could regulate national banks on core practices such as lending and deposit taking.
It reasserted the claim Monday but said it was appropriate for state officials to forward complaints, saying that would not be considered meddling improperly in the affairs of banks with federal charters.
