Banks targeted industries based on media reports and other reputational standards, the report revealed.
Nine of the largest banks have been found to engage in debanking activities, according to preliminary findings in a Dec. 10 review report published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The report follows the banking regulator’s implementation of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking For All Americans,” which said that financial institutions have been engaging in practices that restrict law-abiding individuals and businesses from services on the basis of political or religious beliefs. The order was issued on Aug. 7.
“The OCC is taking steps to end the weaponization of the financial system,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said at the time. “We are working to root out bank activities that unlawfully debank or discriminate against customers on the basis of political or religious beliefs, or lawful business activities. If and when the OCC identifies such activity, it will take action to end it.”
The latest report has been prepared as part of the organization’s review into nine of its largest regulated institutions: Bank of America, BMO Bank, Citibank, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase Bank, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, and U.S. Bank.
The OCC evaluated thousands of documents from 2020 to 2025 to identify instances of customer complaints about potential debanking activities—and whether the institutions shared private data of individuals who hold certain political views or affiliations—with federal law enforcement for the purposes of surveillance and enforcement.
“To date, the OCC has observed that between 2020 and 2023, the banks maintained public and nonpublic policies restricting certain industry sectors’ access to banking services,” the report reads.
“Many industry sectors were restricted based primarily on how it might appear to the public if the bank provided access to financial services to these sectors.”
For instance, a bank was found to target certain industries with restrictions when those sectors were subjected to political and media scrutiny.
Some banks assigned “environmental” and “social” ratings to clients and to transactions exposed to “sensitive” industries.
The nine banks restricted banking access to the following sectors: oil and gas exploration, development, or production in the Arctic; coal mining or coal-powered plants; firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition manufacturing and distribution; private prison construction or operation; payday and payroll lending, consumer debt collection, and repossession agencies; tobacco or e-cigarette manufacturing, online retail, or distribution; adult entertainment; digital asset activities; and political action committees and political parties.
