TD and BMO among nine U.S. banks accused of discriminating against MAGA and conservative customers

Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T and Bank of Montreal BMO-T are among a list of nine lenders identified by a major U.S. banking regulator as having “denied, debanked and discriminated” against customers and businesses on political grounds, following President Donald Trump’s calls to stem these activities.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said Wednesday that between 2020 and 2025, nine banks maintained practices and policies that denied or limited access to financial services due to political or religious beliefs. The OCC launched its review last year after Mr. Trump requested an investigation.

Along with the two large Canadian banks, the OCC identified the world’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM-N, as well as Bank of America Corp. BAC-N, Citigroup Inc. C-N, Wells Fargo & Co. WFC-N, U.S. Bancorp USB-N, Capital One Financial Corp. COF-N and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. PNC-N

“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” OCC Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said in a statement.

“Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views.”

In response to a request for comment from The Globe and Mail, BMO referred to a statement from the Bank Policy Institute, a U.S. banking industry advocacy group. TD did not immediately respond to a request.

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Last year, Mr. Trump signed an executive order targeting debanking practices that result in some customers being denied access to financial services for ideological reasons.

In the OCC’s report, it found that broad reputation risk policies lacked clear standards and objective criteria. These practices disadvantaged certain customers based on their political, religious or social views, the regulator said.

The OCC also said that the banks maintained policies that restricted certain industry access to financial services, including oil and gas exploration, coal mining or coal-powered plants, firearms or ammunition manufacturing or distribution, digital asset activities and others.