The impact of preemption of the Georgia Fair Lending Act by the OCC on national and state banks and the dual banking system

The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently preempted anti-predatory lending statutes in Georgia and other states. This study investigates preemption's impact on the wealth and risk of national and state banks. Wealth increased significantly only for small, geographically diversified national banks. Preemption did not significantly reduce state bank wealth and insignificant differences in excess returns are found when similar national and state banks are compared. Small bank systematic risk rose in the post-event period but the cause is unclear. The evidence suggests that preemption did not create a significant competitive advantage for national banks endangering the dual banking system.