Latest news with #bankingpolicy
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Citigroup drops gun-seller restrictions adopted after Parkland shooting
Citigroup is ending a seven-year-old policy that blocked its banking services for retailers that sold firearms to buyers under age 21 and those who did not pass a background check, reversing a high-profile decision made in the weeks after the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Citi, one of the largest banks in the country, was lauded by gun safety advocates in March 2018 when it announced its policy, which included banning retailers that sold high-capacity magazines or bump stocks, like the one used by the Parkland shooter. Other Wall Street banks soon followed suit. The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left 17 students and staff members dead. On Tuesday, Citi reversed course, saying it would no longer have a specific firearms policy. The White House praised the change, which comes as the Trump administration has increasingly pressured banks to drop restrictions it views as unfriendly to conservative causes. 'It's encouraging to see companies like Citi embrace this by ending their discriminatory policies against millions of law-abiding gun owners in America,' White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email. 'Any attempt to abridge Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms through misguided and targeted politicization is irresponsible, and the Trump Administration is committed to ending these practices once and for all.' Trump regularly suggested on the campaign trail that major banks were hostile to conservatives. While campaigning in 2024, he said he would implement regulations to 'stop banks and regulators from trying to de-bank you.' At the World Economic Forum in January, Trump publicly criticized Bank of America's chief executive, claiming without evidence that the company and others discriminate against conservatives. On Tuesday, Ed Skyler, head of enterprise services and public affairs at Citi, said in a blog post that the company was aware of concerns about 'fair access' to banking services and was making the changes to comply with executive orders as well as new regulations and federal laws related to that issue. The 2018 policy, Skyler wrote, was meant to encourage retailers to adopt best practices around firearms sales as 'prudent risk management' and didn't address the manufacturing of firearms. 'Many retailers have been following these best practices, and we hope communities and lawmakers will continue to seek out ways to prevent the tragic consequences of gun violence,' Skyler wrote. Citigroup adopted the policy in 2018 amid public clamor for businesses to act against gun violence in the wake of the Parkland shooting. Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, Kroger and other retailers made changes to their firearms sales policies or dropped gun-related discounts and partnership programs. 'As a society, we all know that something needs to change. And as a company, we feel we must do our part,' Skyler wrote in a 2018 statement announcing the policy. Gun violence prevention advocates said Citi was capitulating to Trump with the policy reversal instead of protecting children. 'Seven years ago, after 17 of my peers and teachers were murdered, Citi found the courage to say 'no more' — no more financing gun sales to teenagers,' Jackie Corin, a Parkland survivor and executive director of the student-led gun-control group March for Our Lives, said in a statement. 'Today, they're saying our lives matter less than their politics.' The White House did not respond to questions about whether the policy change weakened safety measures around gun sales.
CNN
7 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Citigroup reverses firearms policy after pressure from Trump administration
A month after the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Citigroup enacted restrictions for its clients that sold firearms — the first major bank on Wall Street to do so. On Tuesday, the bank rolled back that policy. 'We also will no longer have a specific policy as it relates to firearms,' the company said in a statement Tuesday. 'The policy was intended to promote the adoption of best sales practices as prudent risk management and didn't address the manufacturing of firearms.' The decision comes as the Trump administration alleges that Wall Street is biased against conservatives — a right-wing talking point since more than a dozen state auditors accused Bank of America of 'politicized de-banking' in an open letter last year (de-banking is when a bank closes an account for a customer it deems high risk). At the time, Bank of America said it has 'no political litmus test.' On Tuesday, Citi said it was 'following regulatory developments, recent Executive Orders and federal legislation.' In 2018, Citi said it would ban banking services to businesses that sold firearms to those under 21, those who didn't pass a background check, or sold bump stocks (used by the gunman in the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas) or high-capacity magazines. The policy applied to small businesses, commercial and institutional clients, and credit card partners, but did not restrict how individual customers used their cards. Big banks have recently caught the ire of the president as well as the crypto industry. In January at the annual World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump scolded Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America. 'You've done a fantastic job, but 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,' Trump said. 'You and Jamie and everybody… What you're doing is wrong,' referring to JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon. Citigroup also announced on Tuesday that it will update its employee Code of Conduct and its external Global Financial Access Policy 'to clearly state that we do not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation in the same way we are clear that we do not discriminate on the basis of other traits such as race and religion.'
Bloomberg
03-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Citi Ends Gun-Sales Policy Implemented After Florida School Shooting
Citigroup Inc. ended a seven-year policy that placed restrictions on firearms sales by its retail sector clients, citing recent legislative developments and concerns over access to banking services. The bank will no longer have a specific firearms policy, it said in a statement on its website. Citigroup had implemented the policy in 2018, following a major school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
