Overview

• President Trump issued the order on August 7, directing federal banking regulators to remove vague reputational-risk language from their oversight materials.
• Regulators are tasked with reviewing past and current account closures to identify instances where customers may have been denied services based on political or religious beliefs.
• Cases of unlawful debanking uncovered in the probe can be referred to the Justice Department and may result in monetary penalties or other disciplinary actions against banks.
• The Small Business Administration must instruct lenders under its jurisdiction to locate and reinstate clients who lost access to services through politicized or unlawful debanking.
• The Secretary of the Treasury, working with the president’s economic advisor, will develop a government-wide strategy to prevent politicized debanking, potentially proposing new legislation or regulations.