A bill introduced in response to Operation Choke Point has passed the House of Representatives and now moves to the Senate for consideration.
H.R. 2706, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2017 was introduced in May by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-Mo.]. It passed in the House by a vote of 395-2.
Operation Choke Point was a law enforcement initiative aimed at cutting off financial services for companies and industries that engaged in “high-risk” activities that could also lead to illegal activities, such as money laundering. Many collection agencies found themselves caught up in the initiative, as banks and payment processors closed accounts to try and comply with the initiative.
“Over the past several years, I have led the effort to combat Operation Choke Point, the Department of Justice and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-led initiative that sought to cut off legal businesses from the financial services they need to survive,” said Rep. Luetkemeyer, in a statement. “It is simple: the federal government should not be able to intimidate financial institutions into dropping entire sectors of the economy as customers, based not on risk or evidence of wrongdoing, but purely on personal and political motivations. I thank Chairman Hensarling for ensuring this legislation was brought to the House floor and my colleagues for putting an end to this dangerous precedent.”
Under the bill, federal banking agencies would be required to provide written justification of any request to terminate an account, except in instances of national security.
Those agencies would also be required to submit an annual report to Congress that details the number of accounts each agency requested or caused to be closed and the legal reasons behind those moves.
A copy of the bill can be viewed here
