7 hours ago
4
Business|No, You Don’t Actually Have a Right to a Bank Account
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/business/trump-debanking-crypto.html
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
There is a degree of political agreement over so-called debanking, but no easy answers to the hot topic in Washington.
May 15, 2025Updated 11:01 a.m. ET
When Brian P. Brooks was a financial regulator during the first Trump administration, he would hear complaints about “debanking” and force himself not to roll his eyes.
The expression was being used by representatives of some rather polarizing businesses, such as private prisons and fracking operators, who complained to Mr. Brooks, the acting comptroller of the currency, that their bank accounts were being closed without warning. His reaction boiled down to the free-market equivalent of tough luck. He didn’t see it as his job to compel banks to do business with anyone in particular.
Five years later, Mr. Brooks, who now runs a brokerage firm and advises cryptocurrency companies, says he is convinced there is a problem. He is among a growing number of people in the finance world who have urged Trump administration officials over the past half-year — in meetings in Washington and at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida — to crack down on the practice.
“The electric company can’t deny you service because it doesn’t like your looks, and neither can a bank,” Mr. Brooks said in an interview.
Image
