The Bush administration’s efforts to achieve tort reform through regulatory agency preemption has garnered much academic and press coverage. On November 29, 2006, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case of Watters v. Wachovia Bank. At issue is the scope of the National Bank Act and federal...

In its Wyeth decision, the Supreme Court has gutted "federal preemption," one of the few remaining protections against state interference in the national economy.

The Supreme Court has declared open season on American manufacturers.

The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (SFRC) is a group of publicly recognized independent experts on the financial services industry, including banking, insurance, and securities, who meet regularly to study and critique regulatory policies affecting this sector of the economy. At the two closed sessions before the luncheon, committee members will...

Most of the powers and prohibitions specified in the Constitution concern commercial matters, and conservative jurists should be favorable to restoring this focus.

The Committee believes that, like national banks, insurance and securities firms should have the option to choose a federal regulatory regime that will have the same preemptive authority currently available to the OCC.

The committee believes that setting general rules on the applicability of state laws to national banks is appropriate.

The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committeepredicts whichitems will be on the Bush administration's agenda in the next four years and makes recommendations for action.