AFFM Renews Call for Federal Fair Access Standard Following Latest OCC Report on Debanking

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a report examining debanking practices at some of the nation’s largest banks and the role of reputation risk in the financial system. The report comes as the Trump administration continues efforts to guarantee fair banking for all.

Americans for Free Markets (AFFM) Executive Director David Ibsen issued the following statement in response:

“President Trump raised important concerns about debanking, and his administration has taken steps in the right direction, including removing reputation risk from the supervisory process. The OCC’s report reminds us of the regulatory failures and outdated policies that created this environment, making a critical case to examine these practices. We need to ensure law-abiding Americans and businesses do not lose access to financial services because of their political, religious or ideological views.

“We’ve long encouraged a federal fair access standard that prohibits the use of politics, religion or ideology in determining access to financial services by banks and regulators. This opportunity to guarantee fair access to banking services for all Americans may not come again.”