FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 18, 2007                       Contact: Brendan LaCivita

Chamber Applauds Supreme Court Decision Upholding Supremacy of Federal Banking Laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC), issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision yesterday in Watters v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., et al., which affirmed that federal banking law preempts state and local regulations of national banks' mortgage activity.

"We are pleased that this first major preemption decision of the Roberts Court upheld national uniformity and rejected efforts to place new regulatory limits on federal agencies. The high court's decision that national banks be regulated at the federal level correctly recognizes the importance of uniform regulation to industries confronted by varying state and local policies."

NCLC, the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a membership organization that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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