A bill seeking to bring an end to Operation Choke Point, the government program launched in 2013 that seeks to disconnect certain businesses from the banking industry, got a boost this week as H.R. 766 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 250-169. The vote comes nearly a year to the day since the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015 was introduced into the House by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo. All 240 House Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by 10 Democrats. The bill would prohibit a federal banking agency from formally or informally suggesting, requesting or ordering a depository institution to terminate either a specific customer account or group of customer accounts, or otherwise restrict or discourage it from entering into or maintaining a banking relationship with a specific customer or group of customers, unless the agency has a material reason to do so. To satisfy the material reason requirement, a federal banking agency must believe that a specific customer or group of customers poses a threat to national security, including any belief that they are involved in terrorist financing. Simply believing that offering banking services to a certain business may present a reputation risk is ...
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