Sen. Warren urges Trump to back CFPB to fight debanking

Odaily News Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Trump to work with regulators to stop the unwarranted closures of citizens and businesses’ bank accounts, arguing that attempts to clamp down on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would make the problem worse.
In a letter to Trump, Warren asked the new administration to support the CFPB’s efforts to prevent unbanking. The Trump administration appointed pro-crypto Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as acting director after firing director Rohit Chopra. Bessent has halted some activities of the bureau’s staff.
Warren wrote in a letter ahead of a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Wednesday that the issue is bipartisan and highlighted Trump’s recent public rebuke of Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump accused the bank of restricting business with certain clients and accused JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon of doing the same to conservative clients.
“Sometimes banks have legitimate reasons and legal obligations to freeze or close bank accounts,” Warren wrote in the Feb. 4 letter. “But banks may implement those legal obligations in a cursory and overbroad manner in order to cut costs.”
At a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley testified that he was a victim of debanking, but he declined to name the bank. McCauley said the bank told Anchorage in 2023 that it would close the company's account because it was uncomfortable with Anchorage's crypto customers.
“They refused to provide further explanation or allow us to speak with their risk management team, and we had extreme difficulty finding new banking partners,” McCauley said. “We spoke to approximately 40 banks across the country and were rejected, with many banks telling us they had a blanket policy prohibiting servicing crypto customers.”
A spokesman for the Bank Policy Institute, which represents the banking industry, said in an emailed statement: "Banks must manage risks and meet regulators' requirements, which may also limit banks' disclosure of why accounts are closed. An important part of the solution is to fix the regulatory structure." (Bloomberg)