EXCLUSIVE: A coalition of state financial officers is backing President Donald Trump’s new executive order aimed at halting “discriminatory debanking,” calling it a critical step toward restoring fairness and neutrality in the financial system.
“For too long, federal regulators have weaponized the concept of ‘reputational risk’ to pressure financial institutions into cutting ties with individuals and organizations they find politically or ideologically objectionable,” the 31 financial officers wrote in a joint statement.
The group of treasurers, auditors and comptrollers from 23 states added that debanking practices have “distorted the role of risk assessment and undermined Americans’ access to basic financial services.”
“Let us send a clear message: discriminatory debanking stops now,” the financial officers wrote.
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The joint statement was in response to an executive order, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, that seeks to end the practice of debanking, the denial, restriction or closure of an individual’s or organization’s access to banking services.
Trump revealed earlier this week he has also been targeted by debanking efforts, which he claims are driven by political bias from bank regulators.
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“The banks discriminated against me very badly,” Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday.
“They totally discriminate against, I think, me maybe even more, but they discriminate against many conservatives.”
Under Trump’s new executive order, federal banking regulators will be required to eliminate references to reputational risk and similar provisions from their guidance and examination manuals.
Additionally, the measure will require the Small Business Administration to direct financial institutions to make efforts to reinstate clients previously denied services due to debanking practices.
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The executive order also instructs federal banking regulators to review complaint data for instances of debanking and to refer relevant cases to the attorney general.
“Major banks like JPMorgan Chase are making it crystal clear: if you hold conservative views, you’re a threat to their ‘reputation,'” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, wrote in a statement to FOX Business.
“This weaponization of the financial system against conservatives is not just wrong, it’s dangerous.”
That sentiment was echoed by OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, who emphasized that political agendas have no place in banking.
“Our state financial officers have been saying for years that political activism should have no place in our financial institutions, but, unfortunately, that is exactly what has been happening,” Oleka wrote in a statement to FOX Business.
“The activism ends now.”
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