TD and BMO are in the crosshairs of a U.S. regulator. Here's why

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a report stating that nine major U.S. banks may have denied or limited services to customers based on political or religious beliefs. The banks reviewed include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO. The OCC found that these banks had risk policies lacking clear standards, potentially disadvantaging certain customers.

A federal review found that JPMorgan Chase's payment subsidiary WePay screened merchants for political and religious terms like 'MAGA' and 'America First' before reviewing accounts. The OCC's report examined nine major banks and their policies from 2020 to 2025. The CFPB has launched an investigation into potential violations of federal consumer financial laws by these banks.

The OCC's report names nine major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citibank, for politically driven account closures. The review, spanning 2020-2025, found banks denied services to sectors like oil, firearms, and cryptocurrency. The OCC may refer cases to the attorney general, and a DOJ probe is ongoing. Banks defend their actions, while lawsuits from Trump-related entities are pending.

The OCC reviewed debanking practices at nine major US banks, finding policies that restricted services based on political, religious, or lawful business activities. The banks included JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citibank. The OCC cited broad reputation risk policies lacking objective criteria, affecting sectors like oil, firearms, and digital assets. The regulator is considering further action to prevent discrimination in banking decisions.

The OCC found that nine major U.S. banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, BMO Bank) had policies that disadvantaged customers based on political or religious views. The report, covering 2020-2025, cited lack of clear standards for assessing reputation risk, leading to cases like PNC denying credit to a media company with conservative owners and JPMorgan's WePay closing accounts for pro-Trump merchandise.

Bank of America faces $1.21B in penalties for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, including $5B in unreported suspicious transactions. Other global banks, like TD Bank, Danske Bank, and HSBC, have also faced significant fines for similar failures, highlighting systemic compliance issues in the banking sector.