Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota), N. A., 517 U.S. 735, 13 (1996)

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Cite as: 517 U. S. 735 (1996)

Opinion of the Court

there is no reason why it cannot include interest charges imposed for that purpose. More relevant than Meilink is our opinion in Citizens' Nat. Bank of Kansas City v. Donnell, 195 U. S. 369 (1904), which did involve § 85 (or, more precisely, its predecessor, Rev. Stat. § 5197). There, a bank argued that a 12% charge on overdrafts did not violate a state law setting an 8% ceiling on interest rates because, inter alia, the overdraft charge "was a penalty because of a failure to pay a debt when due." Id., at 373-374. We dismissed the argument out of hand: "The suggestions as to the twelve per cent charge on overdrafts do not seem to us to need answer." Id., at 374.

* * *

Petitioner devotes much of her brief to the question whether the meaning of "interest" in § 85 can constitutionally be left to be defined by the law of the bank's home State—a question that is not implicated by the Comptroller's regulation. Because the regulation is entitled to deference, and because the Comptroller's interpretation of § 85 is not an unreasonable one, the decision of the Supreme Court of California must be affirmed.

It is so ordered.

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