NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Your move, OCC.

It's been a game of legal chess for the banking industry and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as federal regulators have clashed with Spitzer over his investigation into the banking industry's lending practices.

Spitzer launched a probe in April, seeking documents from banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase (Research), Citigroup (Research), Wells Fargo (Research) and HSBC (Research).

That investigation was temporarily derailed after the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and an industry group called the Clearing House Association sued Spitzer for overstepping his authority. In July, a federal judge in New York refused to force banks to turn over their data, and Spitzer responded earlier this month with a brief reinforcing his commitment to the investigation and accusing the OCC of trampling on state regulators' authorities in an effort to expand its own power.

Now it's the OCC's turn to respond. The federal regulator of the banking industry has already filed a brief responding to Spitzer's court filing and arguments are scheduled for Sept. 7 in federal court in New York, according to Spitzer's office.

And, if history is any indicator, industry observers are fairly confident that the banking industry will win.

Dick Bove, financial analyst at Punk Ziegel & Co., said that state regulators have tried unsuccessfully in the past to have more control over national banks. State-chartered banks already have to follow guidelines set in place by state regulators, but bigwig national banks have traditionally been exempt.

"I think it's better to have national banking regulations, but the OCC has been more lenient to banks than state regulators in the past," he said. "I think the OCC is going to win ... when any one of these agencies sees a threat to their power base, they'll fight like the devil to keep it."

But Spitzer's allies said the industry shouldn't underestimate Spitzer -- who has already brought the insurance and mutual fund industries to their knees with high-profile lawsuits. They added that the current investigation is about more than state or federal authority.

The issue at the heart of the case is predatory lending. Predatory lending occurs when a bank or other mortgage loan provider is accused of pushing unjustifiably expensive refinance or home equity loans to homeowners – usually targeting lower-income or minority borrowers.

Eric Halperin, senior policy counsel for the Center For Responsible Lending -- one of 15 national and state consumer organizations that have filed court documents in support of Spitzer's probe -- said while the recent trend has been in favor of the OCC exercising exclusive enforcement of the banking industry, recent data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act brought to light the fact that a larger number of high-priced loans were given to African-Americans and other minorities than whites.

"This is about state law enforcement officers having the right to investigate civil rights violations," he said. "The OCC is saying that Spitzer can't visit their banks, and we're saying that an investigative subpoena is part of the law enforcement act."

He added that while the OCC has experience in analyzing data, state regulators also have a long history of enforcing civil rights laws. And as more attention is being paid to discriminatory lending, Spitzer's call for an investigation will receive more support, Halperin said.

A complaint was filed in Los Angeles against Wells Fargo this month accusing the bank of reducing mortgage fees and interest rates to attract certain Southern California customers while charging more in Latino and black areas, even among customers with similar credit profiles.

Wells Fargo, which denied any wrongdoing, is one of the companies Spitzer is seeking information from.

Jason Goldberg, analyst at Lehman Brothers, said there's no doubt that the OCC will look into any accusations of predatory lending.

But, he added, if state regulators are allowed to dictate their own rules, the banking industry would be in turmoil.

"Could you imagine having different rules and regulations for every state?" he said. "Wells Fargo has been a target of these kinds of suits for years, and the OCC has always stepped up."

Greg Berardi, spokesman for the Clearing House Association, added that if multiple state and local jurisdictions were to get involved, consumers would suffer from higher borrowing costs and a more complex mortgage lending structure.

Both the OCC and a spokeswoman from Spitzer's office declined to comment ahead of the court hearing.

But analysts said if banks were to compile all their data for state regulators, it would cost time and effort that the banks would then pass along to consumers.

While a hearing is set for September, the banking industry and its opponents aren't seeing any quick resolution to the matter, with appeals expected from both sides.