President Trump order prevents banks from denying business over politics. What it means for Bank of America

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte-based Bank of America and other financial giants are the targets of President Donald Trump’s latest executive order. The order, signed Thursday afternoon, prohibits banks from denying business on political beliefs.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump accused Bank of America CEO Bryan Moynihan of refusing his business following his first term in the White House.

“Brian was kissing my ass when I was president, and when I called him after I was president, to deposit $1 billion plus and a lot of other things… he said we can’t do it, no, we can’t do it,” said Trump.

The EO is entitled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans.” The order states that no Americans can be denied access to financial services because of protected beliefs, affiliations, or political views, which some refer to as political debanking. It also prohibits banks from leaning on “reputational risk” as a reason to deny business if that risk involves politics.

A Bank of America spokesperson told Queen City News that “political beliefs are not a factor in account closing decisions.”

While Moynihan has not addressed the accusations directly, he did praise the President’s action, telling CNBC it provides regulatory clarity.

“I think that the president’s on the right issue, which is we got to stop the regulators behind the scenes of whipsawing back and forth and forcing our companies and companies like ours to make decisions,” said Moynihan.

The order does not go into effect immediately, as agencies that regulate banks will have up to 180 days to draft new language and rules that specifically ban political debanking.