On Monday, June 29, 2009, the Supreme Court struck down an important part of a federal regulation barring state agencies and officials from bringing enforcement actions against federally chartered national banks. In a 5–4 decision by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court declared that the "visitorial powers" rule issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") improperly limited states' rights to enforce their laws in court, and was not a "reasonable" interpretation of the National Bank Act ("NBA"). The decision, Cuomo v. The Clearing House Association, opens the door to future lawsuits by state regulators seeking to enforce state law against national banks, and may put national banks in the unenviable position of having to serve numerous regulatory "masters"—the OCC and a multitude of state agencies and officials with the power to bring enforcement actions in state court.

This ruling has significant impact on how a national bank structures its operations, and how state regulators can impact the operations of national banks and their affiliates.

Please join the Reed Smith Financial Industry Group for a teleseminar on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at Noon (EDT), moderated by Reed Smith partner Wendy Schwartz, featuring partners Michael Bleier and Tyree Jones, and George Washington University Law School Professor Arthur Wilmarth. They will discuss:

• How the Supreme Court ruling will affect a key part of OCC Visitorial Powers Rule
• How the New York Attorney General clashes with OCC and national banks
• How the Supreme Court narrows the scope of Visitorial Powers
• That the Holding has good news and bad news for national banks

Michael Bleier joined Reed Smith as a partner in the Financial Services Regulatory Group in the Pittsburgh office after serving for nearly 14 years as GC for Mellon Financial Corporation and Mellon Bank, N.A., and as manager of legal affairs. Prior to joining Mellon in 1982, he was in the legal division of the Federal Reserve for 11 years; in his last position, he was Assistant GC responsible for the holding company area in the Board's legal division.

Tyree Jones is a trial lawyer in Reed Smith's Washington, D.C. office, where he focuses on complex class action litigation involving commercial, employment and civil rights claims. He has obtained favorable jury and bench trial verdicts in matters alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, discriminatory business practices, and wage and hour violations.

Professor Arthur Wilmarth joined the faculty of George Washington University Law School in 1986, following 11 years in private law practice. He is a member of the international editorial board of the Journal of Banking Regulation, published in London. He has authored numerous articles and has testified before congressional committees on bank regulatory issues. He has also submitted briefs and presented oral arguments in several banking cases in federal courts.

Wendy Schwartz, a partner in Reed Smith's New York office, is an experienced investigative and trial lawyer, handling domestic and international dispute resolution, as well as internal and government investigations. Wendy served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the civil division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, ultimately as a deputy and acting chief of the division. During that time, she prosecuted civil fraud and enforcement actions, defended government agencies in regulatory challenges and commercial cases, handled foreign policy and economic sanctions matters, and represented the government in bankruptcy court.