OCC and Texas Department of Banking Agree to Share Consumer Complaint Information

Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan and Texas Banking Commissioner Randall James signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Oct. 2, 2007, that follows the CSBS model for sharing consumer complaints between their two agencies.

Twenty-seven states have previously executed such an agreement with OCC:  Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

My take on this:  Having preempted most state consumer protection laws that deal with banks, the OCC is now trying to address -- or appear to address -- consumer issues that they are in no way staffed to cover in a meaningful way.  State banking departments are trying to make the best of a bad situation. 

(ag) Oct. 4, 2007