Update On Oregon Opt Out Of DIDMCA

Following up on our article last month discussing Oregon’s opt-out from the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA), the banking industry, fifteen state attorneys general, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), have filed amicus briefs supporting a preliminary injunction to prevent Oregon from exercising the opt-out. As a reminder, DIDMCA contains an opt-out provision that allows states to prevent the exportation of interest rates by state-chartered banks into the state. National banks, governed by the OCC, may always export their interest rates.

Although each amicus brief approaches the topic from a different perspective, the message to the United States District Court in Oregon is clear: allowing Oregon to opt-out effectively interferes with the dual-banking system in the United States, which, as the FDIC says is “a system whose continued success depends on preserving