From CNBC · Luke Fountain · · 1m 30s
Treasury report finds major banks let politics shape lending
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency examined nine largest U.S. banks and found they used vague reputation-risk policies that allowed political views to influence who got banking services.
In brief
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency examined nine largest U.S. banks and found they used vague reputation-risk policies that allowed political views to influence who got banking services. The Treasury's banking regulator found the nine largest U.S. banks used unclear reputation-risk policies that let…
Treasury finds banks used politics in lending
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reviewed nine largest national banks and found all used reputation-risk policies lacking clear, objective standards that could disadvantage customers based on political or religious views.
Scope of the OCC investigation
The OCC examined nearly one hundred thousand complaints and about four hundred twenty thousand pages of documents from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S.
JPMorgan subsidiary screened for political terms
JPMorgan subsidiary WePay closed accounts of merchants selling Trump and conservative merchandise. An internal screening list included terms such as MAGA, Make America Great and America First, though no formal written standards existed.
JPMorgan says it fixed the problem
JPMorgan told CNBC its policies prohibit discrimination based on political or religious views and said WePay's process did not meet our expectations.The bank said it fixed the issue and has since shut down the business.
“did not meet our expectations”
OCC considering new rules to prevent discrimination
The OCC stopped short of announcing fines or sanctions but said it is considering additional rules aimed at preventing political or religious discrimination by banks in lending decisions.
What matters most
The Treasury's banking regulator found the nine largest U.S. banks used unclear reputation-risk policies that let political and social views influence lending decisions, bolstering Trump's debanking claims.
