The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Cuomo v. Clearing House Assoc’n, 2009 WL 1835148, marks a significant shift in the Court’s conception of the statutory banking regulation scheme and represents a dramatic departure from decades of precedent in this area.1 The decision, which will allow state attorneys general to bring charges against national banks for certain alleged violations of state law, promises to have a serious impact on the way that banks do business in this country. This article provides a summary of this holding and outlines the potential impact of what could be characterized as one of the most important banking decisions to be handed down in decades.

Business of Banking

The National Bank Act (the act), promulgated in 1864, provided for the creation of national banks that would exercise “all such incidental powers as shall be necessary to carry on the business of banking.”2 Section 484(a) of the act states that “no national bank shall be subject to any visitorial powers except as authorized by Federal law, vested in the courts…, or…directed by Congress.”3