-->

Finalized “fair access” rule receives big-bank pushback

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a final rule to establish a new requirement for covered banks to provide “fair access” to financial services, prohibiting the nation's largest banks from denying services to certain sectors.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has finalized a controversial rule within days of a change in leadership.

Originally proposed in November, the rule prohibits the nation’s largest banks from denying services to gun manufacturers, energy firms, operators of private prisons and other controversial industries. 

Set to take effect April 1, 2021, the finalized rule has garnered pushback from bank trade groups and some Democratic lawmakers who said the OCC is overstepping, while some Republicans in Congress said the rule prevents unpopular sectors of the economy from being blackballed by the financial services industry.

The rule’s detractors can try to derail the rule in a number of ways. Congressional Democrats could try to repeal it within 60 legislative days using the Congressional Review Act.

The OCC noted that 4,200 of the comments it received supported the proposal, and 31,290 were opposed, according to American Banker. “This figure includes approximately 28,000 form letters collected by a single organization,” the OCC wrote.