As was reported earlier, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a preliminary review of Debanking. The action of Debanking individuals and other organizations was a nefarious pursuit that came to light during the Biden Administration. In effect, banks would close accounts, typically without any cause, cutting individuals and firms from the financial system. While what these banks did was clearly wrong, many believe they pursued these actions because the Biden Administration deemed certain activities and firms out of favor, with financial regulators issuing implicit statements to deter banks from allowing these accounts.
Several months back, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order to end the discriminatory practice. As part of the EO, the OCC revealed its report confirming that the largest banks operating in the United States were negligent in pursuing Debanking.
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, DC, believes the report has fallen short of its goal of highlighting how the Biden Administration discriminated against customers or potential customers based on their political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities.
Cato Institute Policy Analyst Nicholas Anthony shared the following comment with CI:
“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency falls short in its preliminary report on debanking. While the OCC broke down cases of debanking, it failed to mention some of the most well-known causes of debanking. The report criticizes banks for severing ties with controversial clients, but it fails to mention that regulators explicitly assess banks on their reputation. Making matters worse, the report appears to blame banks for cutting ties with cryptocurrency companies, yet makes no mention of the fact that the FDIC explicitly told banks to stay away from these companies. Although the report may only be a preliminary review, it leaves much to be desired.”
A follow-up report by the OCC may rectify some of the above omissions.