Analysis
The report turns a year-long supervisory review into findings against named banks, and the CFPB's announcement opens a path from those findings to possible enforcement. Neither agency has announced penalties or orders, and the banks' responses were not included in either release. The OCC says it is weighing further changes to rules and supervision for the largest banks, so the practical effect will depend on what follows.
What the OCC found
The OCC's review covered JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank, the nine largest national banks by assets that it supervises [1]. It was carried out under an August 2025 executive order, "Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans," and asked whether the banks' policies or practices led them to deny or limit financial services because of customers' political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities [1]. The OCC says all nine had such policies between 2020 and September 2025 [1].
According to the agency, broad reputation-risk policies without clear, objective, risk-based standards disadvantaged some customers because of their political, religious or social views or their lawful businesses [1]. It also found public and nonpublic policies restricting access for whole industries: oil and gas exploration, coal mining and coal-fired power, firearms and ammunition, detention facilities, tobacco and e-cigarettes, and digital assets [1].
The OCC says it reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and received about 50,000 documents, roughly 420,000 pages, from the banks about their policies and individual customer decisions [1]. It announced the review in September 2025 and released preliminary findings in December 2025 [1].
What comes next
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said that despite "certain efforts by the largest banks to rein in these practices, I am not confident that they will be enough," and that the OCC will assess further changes to the regulatory and supervisory framework for the largest banks [1]. The agency says it has already removed reputation risk from its examinations and now considers improper debanking in some licensing decisions and examinations [1].
The CFPB said it will "fully investigate" whether the banks in the report and others complied with federal consumer financial laws and will take appropriate action [2]. It said its reviews focus on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, especially their requirements to tell customers why they were turned down, and on unfair, deceptive or abusive practices [2]. The bureau has supervisory and enforcement authority over banks with more than $10 billion in assets, which includes all nine [2].
What remains uncertain
These are findings and statements by the OCC and the CFPB; the banks' responses were not part of either release, and no penalty, order or lawsuit has been announced. The OCC's full report is a separate document that this article summarizes from the agency's release. Both agencies describe the findings in strongly political terms, and how a court or later administration would weigh them is unknown.
Sources
- OCC: News Release 2026-90, OCC Releases Report on Large Banks' Debanking Activities, October 14, 2026 ↗Official release
- CFPB: CFPB announces new initiative to address OCC-uncovered debanking by large banks, October 14, 2026 ↗Official source
- OCC: Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans (report, PDF) ↗Official release · PDF