JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Among 9 Banks Accused of Political, Religious Debanking by OCC

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday that its review found policies at nine of the nation’s largest banks that disadvantaged customers and lawful businesses based on political, religious or social views and affiliations, as well as policies restricting financial services to certain legal industries. Banking Behemoths Accused of Bias The OCC reviewed debanking practices at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC), The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD), Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) The agency found “irrefutable evidence” that these banks “denied, debanked and discriminated” against customers and lawful businesses based on their “political, religious, or social views.” The review also identified public and nonpublic policies restricting services for industries such as oil and gas, coal, firearms, detention facilities, tobacco, e-cigarettes and digital asset activities. Read Also: Banks Are Putting Deposits On Blockchain As Stablecoins Face A New Rival A Big Standoff Incoming? OCC said it reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and about 50,000 documents totaling approximately 420,000 pages, including policies, procedures and individual customer decisions. “Notwithstanding certain efforts by the largest banks to rein in these practices, I am not confident that they will be enough,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould. Benzinga reached out to the banks named in the report for comment on its findings and their broader policies. It’s worth noting that President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan in January, alleging the bank "debanked" him and related entities for political reasons in early 2021. The legal filing challenged the bank’s internal culture, alleging that the decision to terminate the accounts was rooted in partisan social views. JPMorgan denied the allegations. Trump’s son, Eric Trump, who is co-founder of cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), has also criticized big banks for "desperately targeting" the cryptocurrency industry. Price Action: JPMorgan shares were up 0.82% in Thursday’s pre-market trading after closing 1.16% higher at $335.28 on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Also: JPMorgan Addresses 'Rogue Agents' as AI Gives Banks New Security Problems Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock