OCC debanking report finds restrictive policies at all nine of the largest national banks
OCC found debanking-linked policies at all nine of its largest national banks between 2020 and September 2025. No fines came with the report, but the CFPB announced its own investigation and the OCC is weighing further changes for the largest banks.
The Investor · Invest desk
Key figures: the OCC reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints. If split evenly across the nine banks, each bank supplied about 5,600 documents and about 46,700 pages.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints reviewed by the OCC, nearly | 100,000 complaints | 3 | |
| Documents per bank, about | 5,600 documents | If split evenly across the nine banks | 15 |
| Pages per bank, about | 46,700 pages | If split evenly across the nine banks | 16 |
What happened
- The OCC reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and took in about 50,000 documents running to roughly 420,000 pages from the banks.
- The report says the banks kept public and nonpublic policies restricting sectors including oil and gas, coal, firearms, detention facilities, tobacco and digital assets.
- According to Axios, the report cites PNC rejecting a media company's 2021 credit application over its owners' conservative leanings, and JPMorgan withholding services from a conservative retailer in 2021-2023.
- The OCC announced the review in September 2025 and issued preliminary findings that December.
Why it matters
- constraint The OCC has already removed reputation risk from its examinations. A bank turning away a client now needs an objective, risk-based criterion it can document, and the OCC found the nine lacked clear ones.
- exposure Digital asset activities are one of six sector categories the OCC lists. Crypto firms are now a named class in a federal record of restricted access, though no source counts closed accounts.
- decision Banks that have already trimmed these policies must decide whether to go further before the OCC writes its framework changes, since the Comptroller says the rollbacks may not be enough.
- contradiction JPMorgan says the findings concern only a small set of past incidents, while the OCC counts debanking-linked policies at all nine banks from 2020 to September 2025.
Nine of nine looks like a verdict on the industry, but the OCC drew the group from the top of the asset ranking: it reviewed its nine largest banks by asset size [9]. The finding covers that tier and nothing below it. The paper trail was heavy. If the split was even (the OCC did not say), each bank handed over about 5,600 documents and 46,700 pages [15][16].
The finding is about policies, and the evidence for it is paper. The OCC found that broad reputation risk policies lacked clear standards and objective, risk-based criteria [4], a defect that shows up in a document request. Motive is harder. Comptroller Jonathan Gould said the report "provides irrefutable evidence that the nation's largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses" [6]. According to Axios, as relayed by Quartz, the OCC conceded it lacked the means to measure how pervasive debanking was or what harm it caused, and that a number of the individual cases it examined fell short of proving political bias was the reason for a denial [8]. Reuters reported that the regulator imposed no fines or other penalties [11].
The CFPB, which announced separately that it would investigate whether the banks in the OCC report complied with federal consumer financial laws [12], could turn that into enforcement. The OCC could write binding rules for the largest banks. Or the banks' own rollbacks, plus JPMorgan's account of a few past incidents, could be enough and nothing follows. The Comptroller's own words cut against that last path: "Notwithstanding certain efforts by the largest banks to rein in these practices, I am not confident that they will be enough," Gould said [7]. The OCC said it will be assessing further changes to the regulatory and supervisory framework for the largest banks [10].
We think the rule-writing route is the likeliest, because a rule can be built on the policy defect the OCC documented without proving what any single banker intended. We would be wrong if the follow-up arrives as guidance with no binding text, or if the CFPB closes its inquiry without findings.
For fintechs and crypto firms the direct evidence is thin. Digital asset activities are one of six sector categories on the OCC's list [17]. The release names no fintech. Whether any of them gains depends on whether the coming framework reaches the bank partnerships they rely on. That link is our inference, and the sources do not document it.
What to watch
- Whether the OCC's framework changes for the largest banks arrive as binding rules or as guidance.
- Whether the CFPB investigation produces findings against any of the nine banks named in the report.
- Responses from the banks other than JPMorgan, which gave a statement, and Wells Fargo, which declined to comment.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives60
- Confidence65
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The OCC released a report of findings from its supervisory review of debanking activities at the nine largest national banks it supervises: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank.
- [2]
The OCC's findings show that between 2020 and September 2025 all nine banks had policies that may have required, encouraged or otherwise influenced them to deny or limit access to financial services because of political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities.
- [3]
The OCC reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints to OCC-regulated institutions and received approximately 50,000 documents consisting of approximately 420,000 pages from the banks regarding their policies, procedures, practices and individual customer decisions.
- [4]
The OCC found that broad reputation risk policies, which lacked clear standards and objective, risk-based criteria, disadvantaged certain Americans based on political, religious or social views or lawful business activities.
- [5]
The banks maintained public and nonpublic policies restricting certain sectors' access to financial services, including oil and gas exploration, coal mining or coal-powered plants, firearms or ammunition manufacturing or distribution, construction or operation of detention facilities, tobacco or e-cigarette manufacturing, distribution or online retail, and digital asset activities.
- [6]
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said: "Today's report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation's largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses."
- [7]
Comptroller Gould said: "Notwithstanding certain efforts by the largest banks to rein in these practices, I am not confident that they will be enough."
- [8]
According to Axios, the OCC said it lacked the means to fully measure how pervasive debanking was or what financial harm it caused, and acknowledged that a number of the individual cases it examined fell short of proving that political bias was the reason services were denied.
- [9]
The OCC first announced this review of its nine largest banks by asset size in September 2025 and issued preliminary findings in December 2025.
- [10]
The OCC said it will be assessing further changes to the regulatory and supervisory framework applicable to the largest banks to reduce the likelihood of these practices recurring.
- [11]
The regulator stopped short of imposing fines or other penalties.
- [12]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau separately announced it would investigate whether the banks featured in the OCC report have complied with federal consumer financial laws.
- [13]
JPMorgan said its internal policies bar any discrimination on political or religious grounds and that the findings concern only a small set of past incidents; a Wells Fargo representative declined to comment and spokespeople for the other banks did not immediately respond.
- [14]
Other OCC actions on debanking include eliminating considerations of reputation risk in bank examinations, clarifying its consideration of improper debanking in licensing applications and certain examinations, and improving complaint intake and review.
- [15]
If documents were split evenly, each of the nine banks supplied about 5,600 documents.
- [16]
If pages were split evenly, each of the nine banks supplied about 46,700 pages.
- [17]
The OCC's list of restricted sectors contains six categories, of which digital asset activities is one.
- [18]
According to Axios, the report documents PNC turning down a media company's credit application in 2021 because staff objected to the conservative leanings of its ownership, and JPMorgan withholding commercial services from a conservative retailer on multiple occasions from 2021 to 2023 before employees scrubbed the retailer's political affiliation from internal files.
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Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- crowdfundinsider.comOCC Releases Report on Large Banks’ Debanking Activities
1 article · October 14, 2026
- qz.comU.S. regulator faulted nine big banks for debanking customers over politics and religion
1 article · October 14, 2026
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Topics
- DebankingFollow
- Bank RegulationFollow
- Reputation riskFollow