The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today released its preliminary findings on alleged “debanking” activities by the largest banks.
Earlier this year, President Trump ordered banking agencies to investigate whether banks and credit unions denied services to customers because of their political beliefs or because they were engaged in certain business activities, such as cryptocurrency. He also directed the agencies to rescind rules and regulations that caused financial institutions to deny services to categories of customers.
In its report, the OCC said it is continuing to review thousands of documents and consumer complaints but claimed to find instances where banks may have restricted access based on activist pressure, public perception of the industry, or perceptions about links to financial crime. The report cites several public-facing documents released by the banks relating to past environmental and social governance commitments.
The OCC said it will hold banks “accountable for any unlawful debanking activities” and may make referrals to the Justice Department.
The report did not delve into the role that OCC and other agencies may have previously played in pressuring banks to limit access to banking services for certain industries such as crypto, instead pointing to actions the agency has taken in recent months to remove reputational risk from bank supervision and give consumers information about how to file complaints.
