The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has expressed its support for President Trump’s recent Executive Order focused on preventing politicized or unlawful debanking. Acting Chairman Travis Hill released a statement emphasizing the agency’s stance against denying banking services to law-abiding customers based on their views.
Hill stated, “The FDIC fully supports President Trump’s Executive Order on politicized or unlawful debanking. As I’ve said in the past, debanking law-abiding customers is unacceptable and regulators must work to end it. The FDIC has taken several actions to further that objective, and soon, we plan to issue a rulemaking that would prohibit examiners from criticizing institutions on the basis of reputational risk or directing or encouraging institutions to close accounts on the basis of political, social, religious, or other views. Consistent with the Executive Order, the FDIC also plans to review whether FDIC-supervised institutions have engaged in politicized or unlawful debanking. The FDIC looks forward to working with our interagency partners to ensure that all law-abiding individuals and businesses have access to bank accounts, and that the era of debanking politically disfavored customers is over.”
The upcoming rulemaking by the FDIC aims to address concerns about regulatory guidance leading banks to close customer accounts due to non-financial factors such as political affiliation or beliefs. The agency will also review practices at banks under its supervision regarding account closures related to these issues.
This move aligns with ongoing discussions among federal agencies about fair access to financial services for all individuals and businesses regardless of their personal beliefs.
