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US Regulators Find Nine Major Banks Engaged in Debanking Practices

BearishHigh impact
JPM$331.43 −0.86%C$124.53 −5.60%BAC$53.96 −1.14%WFC$80.74 −3.10%USB$56.89 −0.92%COF$198.07 −1.53%

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reported that the nine largest banks in the United States used debanking practices between 2020 and September 2025. Federal examiners found that lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), and Capital One Financial Corp (NYSE:COF) maintained policies that restricted or denied banking services based on political or religious views or lawful business activities.

The investigation revealed that broad reputation risk guidelines without objective standards unfairly disadvantaged customers and specific commercial sectors. Targeted industries included energy exploration, coal power, firearms manufacturing, private detention centers, tobacco, and digital assets. Regulatory scrutiny has already prompted the removal of reputational risk from federal oversight rules, while bank shares traded lower following the findings.

Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould indicated that voluntary policy updates by financial institutions may be insufficient to address the issues. As a result, regulators are evaluating additional supervisory and regulatory reforms for giant lenders, which could alter compliance rules across the banking sector.

Key points

  • Federal examiners determined that the nine largest U.S. banks maintained policies restricting financial access based on political or religious beliefs from 2020 to September 2025.
  • Affected commercial sectors included firearms, fossil fuels, detention facilities, tobacco, and digital assets.
  • Main federal bank regulators have eliminated reputational risk standards from their supervisory frameworks.
  • The Comptroller of the Currency warned that voluntary bank fixes may not suffice, opening the door to stricter regulations.

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Questions and answers

What is bank debanking?

Debanking refers to financial institutions denying or limiting access to banking services for individuals or companies based on political or religious beliefs or lawful commercial operations.

Which banks were named in the OCC debanking report?

The report cited JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank.

What regulatory changes are expected following the debanking findings?

Regulators have already removed reputational risk from supervisory frameworks and are considering further regulatory and supervisory adjustments for major banks.