These are the top 10 European countries for LGBTQ+ rights and travel
Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock
Revelers unfurl a giant Pride flag during a Pride parade in Brussels, Belgium, in 2024
ILGA-Europe has released its annual Rainbow Map for 2025, providing an analysis of LGBTQ+ rights and the climate for family in 49 European states. The group was created out of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World), the international advocacy group for the LGBTQ+ community.
ILGA-Europe researchers examined 49 countries using 76 criteria, which were then broken down into seven thematic categories:
Equality and non-discrimination
Family
Hate crime and hate speech;
Legal gender recognition;
Intersex bodily integrity;
Civil society space; and
Asylum.
Each country was then given a percentage score and ranked. The results were compiled in the interactive Rainbow Map, with links to a breakdown of every country's performance plus a more comprehensive report providing detailed analyses and examples of the good and the bad for that nation's LGBTQ+ community.
While there were some positive signs in many countries, others ranked among the very worst climates for the LGBTQ+ community.
'The Rainbow Map 2025 offers a stark snapshot of where Europe stands on LGBTI human rights, and highlights the pressing need to defend and advance these rights in the context of acute democratic erosion,' ILGA-Europe concluded. "If left unchallenged, these tactics risk spreading further across Europe, undermining a human rights framework that has taken decades to build. The time to push back is now, before the targeted attacks we're seeing in countries like Hungary, the U.K., and Georgia become the norm rather than the exception. Political leaders must lead by example and turn their words into action. It's time for people to stand up, make their voices heard, and hold our governments to account before it's too late.'
Keep scrolling to see ILGA-Europe's top 10 countries for LGBTQ+ rights, cultural climate, and travel.
You can view the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map at rainbowmap.ilga-europe.org.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
Kateryna Mostova/Shutterstock
Luxembourg Pride Equality March 2023
Overall score 2024: 68.41 percent (10th)
Overall score 2023: 70.04 (8th)
Strengths: Perfect score for Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'The Ministry of Family, Integration, and the Greater Region, in cooperation with the Centre LGBTIQ+ Cigale, the Centre for Equal Treatment, the Rosa Lëtzebuerg association, developed a guide to help bridge the gap between trans people and their employers. This guide equips employers with key information to better understand trans identities and implement inclusive policies, while also offering trans people support in communicating their needs within the workplace.'
RELATED: The world's top 10 queer and trans-friendly cities
You can learn more about Luxembourg's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
Mateusz Boinski/Shutterstock
Norway 2018 Tromsø Arctic Pride festival
Overall score: 68.6 percent (9th)
Overall score 2023: 69.53 (9th)
Strengths: Perfect score for Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'Zaniar Matapour was found guilty of aggravated terrorism by the Oslo District Court for his role in the mass shooting during Oslo Pride on June 25, 2022. Matapour was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the strictest penalty under Norwegian law. State prosecutor Aud Kinsarvik Gravås expressed satisfaction with the court's decision in the case.'
RELATED: Seeking escape, this lesbian sailed to the Arctic Circle
You can learn more about Norway's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
ewelina thepphaboot/Shutterstock
2019 Christopher Street Parade in Frankfurt, Germany
Overall score 2024: 69.1 percent (8th)
Overall score 2023: 66.13 (11th)
Strengths: Perfect score for Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'In October, Germany's Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann of the Free Democrats (FDP) announced new plans to reform adoption and family law. The proposed reforms aim to allow adults in unmarried partnerships to adopt a child together and permit just one adult in a marriage to legally adopt a child, addressing gaps in current laws. Currently, both married and unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples can adopt, but married couples must both legally adopt the child, while only one adult in an unmarried partnership can do so.'
RELATED: Germany makes it easier to change gender and name on legal documents
You can learn more about Germany's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
Giannis Papanikos/Shutterstock
A giant Rainbow Flag at tje `annual Gay Pride celebrations in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2018
Overall score 2024: 69.18 percent (7th)
Overall score 2023: 70.78 percent (7th)
Strengths: High scores for Equality & Non-Discrimination and Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Asylum
Quote of note:
'In February, Greece became the first Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage. The bill passed with the support of 176 out of 300 MPs, also allowing same-sex couples to adopt children and granting equal parental rights to both partners. However, the bill does not include provisions for surrogacy for same-sex couples. Furthermore, while it abolishes the requirement of being unmarried to access legal gender recognition, it does not include any provision to modify a parent's name and gender on the birth certificate of their children after legal gender recognition.
RELATED: Meet the gay man elected to lead Greece's leftist party in historic first
You can learn more about Greece's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
Finn stock via Shutterstock
Finland's Helsinki Pride 2019 celebration
Overall score 2024: 69.85 percent (6th)
Overall score 2023: 70.78 percent (6th)
Strengths: Perfect score for Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'In June, the Helsinki Pride march attracted an estimated 100,000 participants. This year's event was notable for the first-time involvement of the Rainbow Police of Finland, an LGBTI police association established in 2020 by current and former police officers and civilian staff.'
RELATED: Google down these 25 mouthwatering artworks from Tom of Finland Fest
You can learn more about Finland's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
OSCAR GONZALEZ FUENTES/Shutterstock
Spain Gran Via in Madrid 2025 protest to support transgender community
Overall score 2024: 77.97 percent (5th)
Overall score 2023: 76.41 percent (4th)
Strengths: Civil Society Space and Asylum
Weaknesses: Hate Crime & Hate Speech
Quote of note:
'In May, several cases of bias-motivated violence were recorded across Spain. These include the violent beating of a 14-year-old trans girl by a peer, a homophobic attack against openly gay singer Miguel Garena, and an episode of harassment faced by a health worker who received a threatening letter accompanied by a photograph of him and his partner in the crosshairs of a gun.'
RELATED: Emira D'Spain makes history as Bravo's first trans cast member
You can learn more about Spain's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
oleschwander/Shutterstock
Denmark Copenhagen 2018 annual Pride Parade
Overall score 2024: 80.10 percent (4th)
Overall score 2023: 76.35 percent (5th)
Strengths: Perfect score for Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'In February, the Danish government, along with most opposition parties, reached an agreement regarding surrogacy that aims to simplify the recognition of parenthood for Danish parents utilising surrogacy, whether domestically or abroad. A corresponding bill was presented in a public hearing. Under the new framework, the requirement for second-parent adoption will be eliminated, with the primary focus being the child's benefit from the recognition.'
RELATED: Former Denmark ambassador responds to VP Vance's 'not a good ally' comments
You can learn more about Denmark's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
LIVEK/Shutterstock
Iceland Reykjavik Pride parade 2024
Overall score 2024: 84.06 percent (3rd)
Overall score 2023: 83.02 percent (2nd)
Strengths: Perfect scores for Legal Gender Recognition and Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity and Asylum
Quote of note:
'On January 1st, a law banning conversion therapy for sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression took effect. The law was passed on June 9, 2023, with 53 out of parliamentarians voting in agreement.'
RELATED: The land of fire and ice – Your gay guide to Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula
You can learn more about Iceland's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock
Belgium Brussels 2023 pride parade
Overall score 2024: 85.31 percent (2nd)
Overall score 2023: 78.47 (3rd)
Strengths: Perfect scores for Hate Crime & Hate Speech and Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'In February, Belgium introduced a new Criminal Code that removes the distinction between discrimination based on 'racial' criteria and other grounds, including sexual orientation, in employment and goods and services. This means that discrimination against individuals based on sexual orientation is now treated with the same legal seriousness as discrimination based on race, ensuring equal protection under the law.'
RELATED: 15 destinations from Lonely Planet's new LGBTQ+ travel guide
You can learn more about Belgium's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
chmaraa/Shutterstock
Malta Pride Week 2022
Overall score 2024: 88.83 percent (1st)
Overall score 2023: 87.84 percent (1st)
Strengths: Perfect scores for Hate Crime & Hate Speech, Legal Gender Recognition, and Civil Society Space
Weaknesses: Intersex Bodily Integrity
Quote of note:
'A survey conducted by the EU Agency for Human Rights revealed that 62 percent of LGBTI people in Malta feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation, surpassing the EU average of 51 percent.'
RELATED: Malta unveiled – Your ultimate LGBTQ+ guide to the Mediterranean paradise
You can learn more about Malta's performance at the ILGA Europe Rainbow Map.
You can reach the entire ILGA Europe Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia at www.ilga-europe.org.
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Forbes
38 minutes ago
- Forbes
Does Elon Musk's Borrowing Show A Super Low Tesla Stock Valuation?
CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 19: Elon Musk attends 'Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in ... More Conversation with Elon Musk' session during the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 - Day Three on June 19, 2024 in Cannes, France. (Photo by) A practice of Elon Musk and Tesla's board raises questions about the company's governance and the possible low valuation that private capital markets are putting on its shares. At the heart of the issue is how the company's CEO borrows money and whether he pledged an astoundingly large percentage of his shares — close to 7% of all outstanding stock — as collateral for a sum under 4% of the market value. The question is also not just about Tesla, but all public companies where executives and directors might pledge stock for borrowing in ways that could affect the market caps of the corporations. Because this has been a potential and actual problem across companies over time. Chief executive officers often borrow money against their shares as a tax-avoidance measure. Borrowing doesn't typically trigger income recognition requirements, so it is a mechanism for gaining liquidity without causing a taxable event. The interest paid on the loan is likely far less than the capital gains tax that would otherwise be required. Boards accept the approach for two major reasons. Generally, stock is considered to be a way to 'align the interests, ' as typically put, of executives and shareholders. But executives don't want to sit on shares without access to their value. Stock as collateral offers a balance. The other reason is to avoid a company's leader dumping shares. Such a situation could affect the stock's price, both because of supply and demand, and also from the psychological impact of an assumed loss of confidence by leadership. However, a problem appears if the market value of the shares falls and the lender makes a margin call in which the borrower must increase the amount of collateral against the loan, whether that is more shares, other assets of value, or cash. The board won't want a large sale of shares because of the effect on the overall stock price, and yet they may also be concerned about the executive tying up even more shares as collateral. In 2016, The Wall Street Journal wrote about margin debt on company stock held by the CEO of trucking firm Swift Transportation. A share price downturn in 2015 left him with margin calls, some of which he met by pledging more company shares. The board had to raise its limits on pledging multiple times and approved a stock buyback to raise share prices as part of the response. The CEO had pledged what was a quarter of all outstanding shares. Sumner Redstone sold 20% of his stake in Viacom and CBS in late 2008 to meet margin calls. Aubrey McClendon, founder and former CEO of Chesapeake Energy, had to sell 94% of his shares to cover loans. In 2015, Goldman Sachs called in $100 million of share-backed loans to Valeant's CEO, the Journal separately reported. Business Insider in 2022 wrote about 'cash-poor but equity-rich tech founders' who borrowed heavily and then faced a stock plunge. They mentioned eight such people who pledged more than 10% of their stakes and then were hurt by falling share prices. The potential for an executive to get caught out by falling share prices and the need to backstop collateral for loans they've taken is broader than one might think. Michael Chadwick of Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management says that many corporate executives amass an overconcentration in their companies' shares. 'We have a [client] who's a director for a big pharmaceutical company,' Chadwick says. The person bought a house and got a loan from a non-bank lending company with his shares as collateral. Now the share price is down sharply, and he received a margin call. Tesla's stock plunged about 8.5% by 2:20 p.m. on Thursday. As Forbes reported, this seems to be a result of the relationship between Must and President Donald Trump appearing to unravel, with each attacking the other. The Tesla 10-K for fiscal year 2024 cites Musk's borrowing as one of its risk factors: 'If Elon Musk were forced to sell shares of our common stock, either that he has pledged to secure certain personal loan obligations, or in satisfaction of other obligations, such sales could cause our stock price to decline.' In the eyes of some, that might not be enough. 'The valuation issue is a really important one,' says Nell Minow, an expert in corporate governance and chair of ValueEdge Advisors, an institutional investor advisory firm. 'Were representations made to the lenders contrary to what is being told to the shareholders?' She adds that 'stock valuations should recognize any restrictions on a significant portion of the stock.' And the amount of collateral that lenders, including big banks, want could be an indicator of concern over the stability of share prices, the direction of the company, and how much they can trust the CEO. Page 20 of Tesla's 10-K/A, filed January 30, 2025, for the company's fiscal year that ended December 31, 2024, explains the board's rules for 'directors and executive officers to pledge Tesla stock for personal loans and investments' as something 'inherently related to their compensation due to our use of equity awards and promotion of long-termism and an ownership culture.' Directors and executive officers can pledge stock (not including warrants, options, restricted stock units, or other rights to purchase stock) as loan or investment collateral. Everyone other than the CEO is limited to borrowing no more than 15% of the total value of the pledged stock. Musk, by name, has a more complex limitation: the lesser of $3.5 billion or 25% of the total value of the pledged stock. 'It's an area where boards play a critical role, because there aren't any laws or rules that regulate pledging of shares by CEOs,' says Larry Cunningham, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. 'All the rules that exist are disclosure rules. The SEC requires companies to disclose information about a CEO pledging shares.' Tesla's board explicitly notes on page 21 that 'such pledging does not indicate the extent to which there may be actual borrowings against such shares as of such date, which may be substantially less than the value of the shares pledged.' The total amount collateralized by all directors and officers 'was less than 1% of the total value of the pledged shares.' According to Tesla public documents, the company's management 'monitors compliance with the policy by regularly reviewing and requesting updates from the applicable director or executive officer on his or her pledged stock amount and loan amount.' Then, 'if necessary,' management reports to the board or its committees the extent of pledging. 'We believe that this monitoring is effective and includes appropriate controls, and we have confirmed that each of our directors and executive officers who have pledged stock are and have been compliant with this policy since our last confirmation,' they further said. Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for more insight into the situation. Also, PwC, the audit firm involved with the 10-K, said that it doesn't comment on organizations or clients. On page 23 is the list of beneficial owner names with at least 5% of shares, as well as named executive officers and directors, who may have less than 1%. As of December 31, 2024, Musk owned 714,754,706 shares, or 20.3% of all shares. That includes 410,794,076 shares in the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003, and 303,960,630 issuable on exercise of options within 60 days after December 31, 2024. As of then, all of the shares that Musk owned outright were in that revocable trust. They include 235,998,721 shares pledged against his personal loans. The opening value Tesla shares on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, was $347.35. The value of the shares pledged is $81.97 billion. Round it to $82 billion. A quarter of that amount is $20.5 billion. According to the board's rule, Musk can have borrowed no more than $3.5 billion against all that stock, or 4.3% of the shares' total value. Furthermore, the shares he's pledged are 6.7% of all Tesla shares. If the board approved the borrowing because the loaned amount was far lower than the value of the shares, the question of potential impact on the valuation of the company's market cap remains. Not just for Tesla, but any company whose executives could pledge significant amounts of stock for low valuations. 'Banks typically require 50-70% loan-to-value ratios on stock collateral, with daily mark-to-market,' says Giacomo Santangelo, a senior lecturer in economics at Fordham University. 'A 20% stock decline on a 60% loan-to-value loan means the borrower must immediately post additional collateral or face forced liquidation. This creates cascade risk, where small declines trigger margin calls, forcing either more pledging or open-market sales, putting more pressure on the stock.' Santangelo adds that from a share valuation perspective, 'traditional models miss this entirely' as they typically assume continuous liquidity. 'But pledged shares behave more like restricted stock with embedded put options held by creditors,' meaning there are two constraints. One is on the shareholder's ability to turn the shares into cash through a sale. The other is of a potential forced sale. Depending on the circumstances, banks can look for other assets, whether securities, real estate, cash, or even alternative assets like art. If an executive is caught on a margin call from borrowing, where the equity of the stock pledge is worth less than a set baseline, the person will have to pony up more cash, offer alternative assets, or sell off additional shares to cover the balance. This can happen when a stock's price drops. Tesla has seen downward pressures on its shares. As Yahoo Finance reported, Tesla electric vehicle registrations (a proxy for sales) were down 49% year-over-year in Europe even as overall EV registrations were up 34.1%. Citi Analyst Jeff Chung noted that recent sales in China were down about 16% year over year, as Barron's reported. Shares did jump on Tuesday, May 27, on Musk saying that he would return to the office rather than spending more time in politics. In 2022, Forbes reported that out of the Forbes 400 list of 2021, 32 billionaires pledged shares of public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq where they were either directors or significant shareholders (at least 5% of total shares of a company). Musk reportedly pledged a greater amount than the other 31 billionaires combined. He was fueling business deals like the Twitter takeover. According to that Forbes report, he pledged $62.5 billion in Tesla stock as collateral for margin loans of $12.5 billion. In the 2022 proxy statement, the board wrote that it limited loans with stock collateral to 25% of the pledged stocks. 'We believe this cap places sufficient limitation on any potential risk attendant to pledging stock, while still allowing flexibility in the use of equity awards to promote long-termism and ownership culture,' they wrote at the time. Also, the statement noted that a proxy advisory firm had 'concerns about the Board's risk oversight with respect to Tesla's policy regarding pledging of shares by directors and officers.' The proxy advisory was also concerned over 'hypotheticals of increasing share pledges.' In 2023, the board added the $3.5 billion cap to Musk's borrowing. Whether that applied in retrospect is unclear. If so, it would suggest that Musk had to repay a massive sum to keep within the new bounds. There seems to be nothing to indicate that his previous borrowing was grandfathered. If it were, there should be some documentation to that effect. Had he repaid that money, it would seem unlikely that vast number of shares would still be pledged. If he did repay the previous amounts, then under the Board's rules, the value of the shares to the maximum he could borrow, $3.5 billion, would be a roughly 23-times collateral coverage. According to Santangelo, that would signal that the lender saw an extreme risk in the pledged shares. What is clear is that in 2023, Musk had 238,441,261 shares pledged — 2,442,540 shares more than in 2024. That was a big jump from 2022, when Musk had pledged 92,331,125 shares, just under 39% of the 2023 figure. Also, the total shares he had in 2022 was 172,608,251, 21.2% of the total shares. There a large increase in the total number of shares as well, from 1,033,507,611 in 2022 to 3,164,102,701 in 2023. 'The whole point of caring about how much stock the executives and directors have is so investors can assess how well the interests of insiders align with theirs,' Minow says. 'Using stock as collateral arguably provides even more of an incentive to keep the price up, unless, as apparent in the Twitter purchase, the board is willing to open the spigot to make up for any squeezes.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bank of America dropped private-prison clients. Now it's taking them back.
Six years after Bank of America fired him as a client, and 131 days after President Donald Trump publicly accused the bank's chief executive of political bias, Damon Hininger got a phone call. Upon reconsideration, Bank of America would be happy to offer his company, the second-largest operator of US prisons and detention centers, a bank account. 'Times change,' Hininger said in an interview from his office in Nashville, Tenn. His company, CoreCivic, took Bank of America up on its offer, which had been in the works for months. 'A deposit account is nice,' he said, but he's waiting for the Wall Street services — loans, stock offerings, and takeover advice — typically bestowed on favored clients. Financial firms are warming to customers they once shunned under progressive pressure, addressing conservative states lamenting the lack of 'fair access' to banks, and more recently, trying to avoid the wrath of a president bent on settling scores. Citigroup said Tuesday it would start lending to gun manufacturers again, and promised to conduct employee training to root out any political bias. Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq have both stopped requiring companies using them for an IPO to have diverse board members. This week, BlackRock's retreat from progressive stances was rewarded when Texas took it off an investment blacklist. CoreCivic operates 43 jails and prisons across the country, including several that house detainees for US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Its longtime lender, Bank of America, dropped it as a client in 2019 during a retreat from banking private prisons, gun manufacturers, coal miners, and other industries then out of political favor. That July, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan delivered the bad news personally in what Hininger described as an uncomfortable meeting in Boston. Alluding to activist pressure — protesters had just shown up at the bank's annual shareholder meeting — Moynihan said CoreCivic could remain a client if it canceled its contracts with ICE or agreed to fulfill them at zero profit to the company. 'Clearly we were targeted for political reasons,' said Hininger, a Republican donor who earlier this year pressed Trump in person to look into political bias in financial services. A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment on specific clients, but noted that it changed its 2019 policy 18 months ago from an outright ban to a case-by-case assessment subject to enhanced scrutiny. 'We're happy to serve anyone,' Moynihan said in February. A JPMorgan spokeswoman said the bank had not changed its policies against financing private prisons or companies that make military-grade weapons for personal use. (It does lend to contractors for the military and law enforcement.) 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By the time Moynihan and his peers arrived in Davos for the World Economic Forum in January, the climate had changed radically. Conservative backlash had hit brands from Target to Budweiser to BlackRock, and swept Trump into office with a perceived mandate to roll back the progressive shift of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Moynihan was among a group of CEOs chosen to ask a question to Trump, who was video-conferencing in from his inauguration week in Washington. The president answered Moynihan's softball question with a sharp rebuke: 'I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank. What you're doing is wrong.' His comments signal-boosted a movement in conservative circles that believes banks discriminate against them by closing their accounts without warning or explanation, cutting off their access to the financial system. Among those decrying economic exile were venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who told podcaster Joe Rogan in November that he knew 30 entrepreneurs who had been 'de-banked,' including his partner, Ben Horowitz's, dad. Andrew Torba, founder of the conservative social network Gab, posted a cancellation notice from his bank. The CEO of Anchorage Financial, a crypto outfit with sway in the Trump administration, told Congress in February that his firm had been cut off with 30 days notice. The Trump Organization sued Capital One this spring for closing its bank accounts after the Jan. 6 riots. What critics call 'de-banking,' banks call 'de-risking.' It traces back to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when new regulations forced banks to stop lending to risky borrowers. Tighter rules around bribery and money laundering followed as the US sought to crack down on terrorism and corruption abroad. The Obama administration's Operation Chokepoint cut off banking access to firearm dealers, payday lenders, and pawn shops. The result was banks weighing reputational risk equally alongside traditional worries like losing money. Sometimes that means cutting off entities linked to foreign governments, especially those in dubious standing with Washington, or customers making unusual withdrawals. It also extends to crypto companies, adult entertainers, or any client whose source of income is unverified, legally gray, or unseemly. (Message boards are full of advice for OnlyFans entertainers trying to open bank accounts. The key, apparently, is checking the 'other personal services' box when asked what the business does.) It's the latter category — legitimate businesses that are unpopular with a bank's employees, shareholders, regulators, or customers — that are at the heart of the current fight over financial access. A key regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, announced in March that it's no longer considering reputational risk as part of bank supervision. 'These banks should be blind to politics,' said Hininger, who started as a midnight-shift guard at the maximum-security Leavenworth, Kansas federal prison and became CoreCivic's CEO in 2009. 'The questions they get to ask are: Are we a good credit risk? Are we in good standing with the government?' For CoreCivic, getting cut off by big lenders had consequences. At the time, the company was structured as a real-estate investment trust, which required it to pass almost all of its income to shareholders. Like other REITs, it turned to banks for cash to grow. Bank of America had been the company's go-to lender over the years, arranging loans, underwriting stock offerings, and pitching takeover ideas. After being dropped by big lenders, CoreCivic cut its dividend and, in 2020, converted from a REIT into a corporation, which allowed it to conserve cash. The stock lost nearly half its value by the end of that year. 'We're in a great position now,' Hininger said. CoreCivic's stock, like those of other companies shareholders see benefitting from Trump's agenda, have soared since November. 'But that was a bad year. And it started with a decision… that I think was influenced by politics.' Hininger — who gave $1.3 million to Trump and other Republicans in 2024, filings show — pressed his case to the president at a recent event at Mar-a-Lago. 'This is a big, big issue for me personally, and we're going to be doing more work on this,' Hininger recalls him saying. Banks, like other companies, are moving rightward for the same reasons they moved leftward: They fear getting yelled at. In the late 2010s, it was pressure from progressive groups and a national reckoning with social justice and racism. In 2025, it's a public that has soured on diversity initiatives and a president convinced of anti-conservative bias and determined to root it out of American institutions. His success in getting universities and law firms to bend has sent a chill across banks, which are far more regulated and vulnerable to government pressure. When conservatives were howling about getting 'deplatformed' from social media in 2021, I was pretty unsympathetic. There's no constitutional right to post, and the argument that social networks were de facto town squares, rather than private companies, never made much sense to me. Banks are different: Anytime they want, they can go to the Federal Reserve and borrow money from you and me, essentially for free. That makes them a public good, and more accountable. Choosing whom to bank in 2019 was a choice, and perhaps a defensible one in the political climate that existed then, but the bill comes due. It always does, and it's a good reminder to companies now scrambling rightward: 2028 isn't that far away. Bank executives blame overregulation. 'Know your customer' rules and requirements to try to prevent criminals from accessing funds have heightened the risk of dealing with some customers. 'It's because [of] interpretations of anti-money-laundering [rules], the Bank Secrecy Act, KYC — know your customers,' Moynihan said in February. 'I have not heard of a single instance of anybody on the left getting de-banked,' Andreessen said on OnlyFans' CFO had his . ''Reputational risk' is a blanket term that they use.' — Financial Times When Brian Brooks was comptroller of the currency, he rolled his eyes at complaints of de-banking. Now he's a crypto executive, and converted to the cause. — The New York Times Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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- Washington Post
After Putin call, Trump suggests Ukraine, Russia should ‘fight for a while'
President Donald Trump's comment about inevitable Russian retaliation following his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been widely interpreted in Russia as a tacit endorsement of Moscow's right to strike back after a spectacular Ukrainian drone operation, without even a note of caution about civilian casualties. It was turnaround for Trump after recent Russia-related posts on Truth Social had reprimanded Putin for strikes against civilians, but as has happened after past phone calls between the two leaders, Putin appeared to have swayed Trump over to his views on the conflict. Trump called it a good conversation, 'but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.'
