US Supreme Court Rules Usury Claim Against National Bank is Exclusively a Federal Law Claim Removable to Federal Court

Mondaq Business Briefing, June, 2003

The US Supreme Court (the "Supreme Court") held that Section 30 of the National Bank Act (12 USC Sections 85 and 86) provides the exclusive cause of action for usury claims against national banks, and thus a claim brought in a state court against a national bank alleging violation of the usury laws is removable to federal court, even if the complaint makes no reference to federal law. The Supreme Court noted that, as a general rule, absent diversity jurisdiction, a case is not removable to federal court unless the complaint states a federal claim. However, the Supreme Court stated that an exception to this general rule applies if "the federal statute completely pre-empts the state-law cause of action, [because] a claim which comes within that scope of action, even if pleaded...