Association of banks, federal agency sue NY Attorney General Spitzer

06/17/05 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, June 17 (newratings.com) - The US Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), along with a group of banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co and HSBC Bank USA, Thursday filed a suit in a federal court against New York Attorney General Eliot Sptizer.

The lawsuit charges the Attorney General of exceeding his authority by seeking mortgage lending data from nationally chartered banks. Acting Comptroller, Julie Williams, said that although the New York Attorney General has the legitimate authority to probe a number of lending institutions, the lending activities of national banks and their subsidiaries comes under the purview of the OCC. Spitzer had launched an inquiry in April this year into the mortgage lending practices of at least three banks, JP Morgan, HSBC and Wells Fargo. The OCC said that Spitzer’s inquiry interferes with its ability to carry on its responsibilities properly.