Latest news with #debanking
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.'
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Red state lawmaker recounts personal experience of being 'debanked' and why it 'has to be stopped'
EXCLUSIVE: Protecting Americans from being "debanked" has been a top priority for the State Financial Officers Foundation, and Fox News Digital spoke to a member of that organization, who said he was targeted himself, about the importance of that pursuit. "When I was initially debanked, I didn't realize I was getting debanked," Alabama Republican State Auditor Andrew Sorrell told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. "What happened was I just get a letter one day from our credit card company, from my gun store, Gold Guns and Guitars, and we get this curious letter in the mail, and it says that in 30 days, we're closing your account. And it didn't tell us why at all." Sorrell, 39, explained that at first he thought that his company had simply forgotten to pay their bills, but when he realized he was up-to-date, he switched credit card companies and did not think anything of it until he got another letter from his credit card processor notifying him he was being dropped. "So we're doing about 2 million dollars in revenue, about a million and a half of that is done by credit card or debit card transactions, and I was really confused this time, because why would a credit card processor drop us?" Sorrell explained. After that, Sorrell was told by his insurance company he was being dropped with "no explanation." "I called my insurance broker, and he said, 'Oh yeah, this is happening to all gun stores,'" Sorrell said. "He said insurance companies are dropping all gun stores. And then it hit me. Oh my goodness, I'm a victim of political debanking. I didn't even realize that that's what was happening to me." Debanking is the phenomenon in which a bank customer has their accounts canceled, often with no explanation. Conservatives have long alleged that banks were unfairly targeting them in the practice, with banks specifically going after companies with conservative messaging or principles, including gun stores. In an interview with "Sunday Morning Futures" anchor Maria Bartiromo, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said he had seen "numerous" examples of conservatives being debanked during the Biden administration. "Especially people that were involved in different energy-type businesses and things like that, as well as very well-spoken and outspoken conservative activists," Comer said in the interview. "So there are numerous instances, enough to open an investigation again. Is this [environmental, social and governance (ESG)] policy, which is discriminatory?" Sorrell told Fox News Digital he is "convinced this is happening to other people in Alabama," and that the problem doesn't stem from local community banks but from large national banks who were "pushed" by the Obama and Biden administrations. "I actually have some sympathy for these large banks, and I think passing debanking legislation at the state level might actually help some of these large banks, because they can go back, and they can say, I'm sorry, Alabama has now passed debanking legislation. We're just following the law, we don't wanna debank people anymore," Sorrell said. "This is un-American, and it has to be stopped." Since the Trump administration took office in January, pushing back against political debanking has become a more prevalent conversation in government, including in the form of a bill from GOP Sen. Tim Scott to address regulatory language that has prompted financial institutions to debank those involved in certain industries. "It's clear that federal regulators have abused reputational risk by carrying out a political agenda against federally legal businesses," Scott said. "This legislation, which eliminates references to reputational risk in regulatory supervision, is the first step once and for all."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Capital One asks judge to toss Trump de-banking lawsuit
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Capital One wants a federal judge to dismiss the Trump Organization's de-banking lawsuit against the bank, citing a lack of evidence to support assertions made by the president's company. Calling the Trump Organization's political de-banking allegations 'false,' the McLean, Virginia-based bank said while it does close bank accounts occasionally, 'it does so for legally and regulatorily permissible reasons, and Plaintiffs have pled no facts suggesting otherwise,' according to the motion to dismiss filed Wednesday. The bank also argued the Trump Organization's complaint, filed in Florida, doesn't connect the dots to the various state consumer protection or consumer fraud laws its argument leans on. The case, initially filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, was moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in April. The Palm Beach County, Florida-based Trump Organization and Eric Trump sued Capital One in March, accusing the bank of wrongfully closing some 300 accounts over 'woke' beliefs and political and social motivations. In the complaint, the Trump Organization and Eric Trump argued 'that they were de-banked because of President Trump's political views,' although Capital One didn't provide a reason for terminating the accounts. The complaint lacks a mention of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when supporters of President Donald Trump rioted to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, although notice of the account closures came just two months after that event. Capital One hit back at the Trump Organization's assertion, saying the company doesn't have any facts to back it up. 'The only 'fact' pled is the unsupported statement that Plaintiffs 'have learned' that the closure was for political reasons, without any detail regarding that alleged discovery, along with conclusory allegations based on public reports — having no specific tie to Capital One — regarding 'de-banking' generally,' the bank contends. The contract governing the accounts allows Capital One to close an account for any reason at its discretion, and without any notice, the company said. Capital One's initial communication to the Trump Organization in March 2021 gave the company three months' notice to find new banking services, after the bank decided to close 'many, but not all,' of the organization's deposit accounts. At the company's request, Capital One extended the closure date for some of the accounts, to give additional time, the bank said. The Trump Organization also notified Capital One it intended to close additional accounts the bank didn't seek to close. By October 2021, the Trump company had moved or closed all of the accounts with the bank. 'Almost four years to the date' after initial communication with the Trump Organization about the account closures, 'and after Capital One had not heard from Plaintiffs in years,' the Trump Organization filed the lawsuit, the bank said. 'No immediate controversy exists here,' Capital One declared in the motion. The Trump Organization's 'generalized allegations' don't hold up, and the complaint 'fails to provide any factual or legal support for the claims asserted,' Capital One said. Additionally, the company's lawsuit 'asserts an assortment of claims in a Florida court under the consumer protection or consumer fraud laws of four different states — North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Minnesota — having no plausible connection to any party,' Capital One said in the motion. 'Plaintiffs have failed to plead any facts to connect the account closures to the relevant states' laws or interests.' Capital One also said it doesn't appear the Trump Organization has experienced any ongoing harm or expects any future harm from the bank's decision, or suggest it has been unable to secure alternative banking services. Todd Baker, a senior fellow at Columbia University's Richman Center for Business, Law and Public Policy, has said the Trump Organization's lawsuit 'should easily be dismissed, should Capital One decide to litigate,' because the complaint's claims are weak. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump himself brought the de-banking issue to the fore in January, just days after he returned to the White House. He confronted Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan about the issue during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, accusing Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase of de-banking conservatives. Moynihan and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, in response, each said their financial institutions bank everybody and don't de-bank customers for political reasons. Moynihan has pointed to 'over-regulation' as the problem, and said Trump's rebuke sparks dialogue on correcting regulation. Lawmakers have taken up the issue by pushing related legislation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have said they'll stop considering reputational risk in bank supervision. Since the Trump Organization's lawsuit was filed in March, Capital One has received regulatory approvals from the Federal Reserve and the OCC regarding its $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover. 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
Bloomberg
08-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Capital One Says Trump Organization's ‘De-Banking' Suit Short on Facts
Capital One Financial Corp. urged a federal judge in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization, saying no evidence had been presented to support claims that the bank had illegally halted business with President Donald Trump's company for political reasons. The Trump Organization sued in March, accusing Capital One of 'de-banking' the company by abruptly canceling hundreds of its accounts after Trump's first term in office ended in 2021, forcing the real estate business to quickly move millions of dollars. The suit accused the bank of violating consumer protection laws.
Bloomberg
08-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Capitol One Says Trump Organization's ‘De-Banking' Suit Short on Facts
Capital One Financial Corp. urged a federal judge in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization, saying no evidence had been presented to support claims that the bank had illegally halted business with President Donald Trump's company for political reasons. The Trump Organization sued in March, accusing Capital One of 'de-banking' the company by abruptly canceling hundreds of its accounts after Trump's first term in office ended in 2021, forcing the real estate business to quickly move millions of dollars. The suit accused the bank of violating consumer protection laws.
