WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., subpoenaed major banks in 2025 as part of an investigation into alleged account closures and service denials. The U.S. Attorney's Office is investigating whether these actions violated the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989.

Subpoenas were sent to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo by the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Some of these subpoenas, dating from 2025, requested lists of accounts subject to alleged debanking and explanations for their closures. The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act is a federal law enacted in 1989 to strengthen bank-fraud penalties following the savings and loan crisis.

This investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office began independently of inquiries conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's investigation did not result in a referral for prosecution to the Justice Department. In August 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal banking regulators to investigate debanking and develop a comprehensive strategy to address it. The executive order specifically directed regulators to review financial institutions for policies that influence debanking and to impose disciplinary measures as applicable by law.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conducted the primary regulatory review under this executive order. In December 2025, the office released a preliminary report that covered nine large supervised banks between 2020 and 2023. The report indicated that these nine banks maintained policies that restricted certain industry sectors from banking access, which in turn required escalated reviews and approvals. The report referenced environmental, social, and governance policy frameworks but did not include specific details of alleged debanking. The office later issued guidance on avoiding unlawful debanking, but it has not announced any disciplinary actions.

President Donald Trump stated that banks discriminate against conservatives and religion. "The banks discriminate against conservatives, they discriminate against religion, because they're afraid of the radical left, I suspect. I think the bank regulators are doing a big number of the banks because they're not allowed to do business with you. And we're going to get those banks when we get in office." Trump said.