119-hr987

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 987 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 987

 To amend certain banking laws to prohibit certain financial service 
 providers who deny fair access to financial services from using 
 taxpayer funded discount window lending programs, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 5, 2025

 Mr. Barr (for himself, Mr. Meuser, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. 
 Clyde, and Mr. Harrigan) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend certain banking laws to prohibit certain financial service 
 providers who deny fair access to financial services from using 
 taxpayer funded discount window lending programs, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Access to Banking Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds that--

    (1) article I of the Constitution of the United States 
 guarantees the people of the United States the right to enact 
 public policy through the free and fair election of 
 representatives and through the actions of State legislatures 
 and Congress;

    (2) financial institutions rightly objected to the 
 Operation Choke Point initiative through which certain 
 government agencies pressured financial institutions to cut off 
 access to financial services to lawful sectors of the economy;

    (3) in response to pressure from advocates whose policy 
 objectives are served when financial institutions deny certain 
 customers access to financial services, financial institutions 
 are now, however, increasingly employing subjective, category-
 based evaluations to deny certain persons access to financial 
 services;

    (4) this privatization of the discriminatory practices 
 underlying Operation Choke Point by financial institutions 
 represents as great a threat to the national economy, national 
 security, and the soundness of banking and financial markets in 
 the United States as Operation Choke Point itself;

    (5) financial institutions are supported by the United 
 States taxpayers and enjoy significant privileges in the 
 financial system of the United States and should not be 
 permitted to act as de facto regulators or unelected 
 legislators by withholding financial services to otherwise 
 credit worthy businesses based on subjective political reasons, 
 bias or prejudices;

    (6) financial institutions are not well-equipped to balance 
 risks unrelated to financial exposures and the operations 
 required to deliver financial services;

    (7) the United States taxpayers came to the aid for large 
 financial institutions during the great recession of 2008 
 because they were deemed too important to the national economy 
 to be permitted to fail;

    (8) when a financial institution predicates the access to 
 financial services of a person on factors or information (such 
 as the lawful products a customer manufactures or sells or the 
 services the customer provides) other than quantitative, 
 impartial risk-based standards, the financial institution has 
 failed to act consistent with basic principles of sound risk 
 management and failed to provide fair access to financial 
 services;

    (9) financial institutions have a responsibility to make 
 decisions about whether to provide a person with financial 
 services on the basis of impartial criteria free from prejudice 
 or favoritism;

    (10) while fair access to financial services does not 
 obligate a financial institution to offer any particular 
 financial service to the public, or to operate in any 
 particular geographic area, or to provide a service the 
 financial institution offers to any particular person, it is 
 necessary that--
        (A) the financial services a financial institution 
 chooses to offer in the geographic areas in which the 
 financial institution operates be made available to all 
 customers based on the quantitative, impartial risk-
 based standards of the financial institution, and not 
 based on whether the customer is in a particular 
 category of customers;
        (B) financial institutions assess the risks posed 
 by individual customers on a case-by-case basis, rather 
 than category-based assessment; and
            (C) financial institutions implement controls to 
 manage relationships commensurate with these risks 
 associated with each customer, not a strategy of total 
 avoidance of particular industries or categories of 
 customers;

    (11) financial institutions are free to provide or deny 
 financial services to any individual customer, but first, the 
 financial institutions must rely on empirical data that are 
 evaluated consistent with the established, impartial risk-
 management standards of the financial institution; and

    (12) anything less is not prudent risk management and may 
 result in unsafe or unsound practices, denial of fair access to 
 financial services, cancelling, or eliminating certain 
 businesses in society, and have a deleterious effect on 
 national security and the national economy.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

 The purposes of this Act are to--

    (1) ensure fair access to financial services and fair 
 treatment of customers by financial service providers, 
 including national and State banks, Federal savings 
 associations, and State and Federal credit unions;

    (2) ensure financial institutions conduct themselves in a 
 safe and sound manner, comply with laws and regulations, treat 
 their customers fairly, and provide fair access to financial 
 services;

    (3) protect against financial institutions being able to 
 impede otherwise lawful commerce and thereby achieve certain 
 public policy goals;

    (4) ensure that persons involved in politically unpopular 
 businesses but that are lawful under Federal law receive fair 
 access to financial services under the law; and

    (5) ensure financial institutions operate in a safe and 
 sound manner by making judgments and decisions about whether to 
 provide a customer with financial services on an impartial, 
 individualized risk-based analysis using empirical data 
 evaluated under quantifiable standards.

SEC. 4. ADVANCES TO INDIVIDUAL MEMBER BANKS.

    (a) Member Banks.--

Section 10B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 
U.S.C. 347b) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (c) Prohibition on Use of Discount Window Lending Programs.--No 
member bank with more than $50,000,000,000 in total consolidated 
assets, or subsidiary of the member bank, may use a discount window 
lending program if the member bank or subsidiary refuses to do business 
with any person who is in compliance with the law, including 

section 8 
of the Fair Access to Banking Act.''.

    (b) Insured Depository Institutions.--

Section 8

    (a)

    (2)
        (A) of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1818

    (a)

    (2)
        (A) ) is amended--

    (1) in clause
            (ii) , by striking ``or'' at the end;

    (2) in clause
            (iii) , by striking the comma at the end and 
 inserting ``; or''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (iv) an insured depository institution 
 with more than $500,000,000,000 in total 
 consolidated assets, or subsidiary of the 
 insured depository institution, that refuses to 
 do business with any person who is in 
 compliance with the law, including 

section 8 of 
 the Fair Access to Banking Act.''.
            (c) Nonmember Banks, Trust Companies, and Other Depository 
Institutions.--

Section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 342) is 
amended by inserting ``Provided further, That no such nonmember bank or 
trust company or other depository institution with more than 
$50,000,000,000 in total consolidated assets, or subsidiary of such 
nonmember bank or trust company or other depository institution, may 
refuse to do business with any person who is in compliance with the 
law, including, including 

section 8 of the Fair Access to Banking 
Act:'' after ``appropriate:''.

SEC. 5. PAYMENT CARD NETWORKS.

    (a) 

=== Definition. ===
-In this section, the term ``payment card network'' 
has the meaning given the term in 

section 921
            (c) of the Electronic Fund 
Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o-2
            (c) ).

    (b) Prohibition.--No payment card network, including a subsidiary 
of a payment card network, may, directly or through any agent, 
processor, or licensed member of the network, by contract, requirement, 
condition, penalty, or otherwise, prohibit or inhibit the ability of 
any person who is in compliance with the law, including 

section 8 of 
this Act, to obtain access to services or products of the payment card 
network because of political or reputational risk considerations.
            (c) Civil Penalty.--Any payment card network that violates 
subsection

    (b) shall be assessed a civil penalty by the Comptroller of 
the Currency of not more than 10 percent of the value of the services 
or products described in that subsection, not to exceed $10,000 per 
violation.

SEC. 6. CREDIT UNIONS.

 

Section 206

    (b)

    (1) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1786) 
is amended by inserting ``or is refusing or has refused, or has a 
subsidiary that is refusing or has refused, to do business with any 
person who is in compliance with the law, including 

section 8 of the 
Fair Access to Banking Act,'' after ``as an insured credit union,''.

SEC. 7. USE OF AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE NETWORK.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Covered credit union.--The term ``covered credit 
 union'' means--
        (A) any insured credit union, as defined in 

section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752); 
 or
        (B) any credit union that is eligible to make 
 application to become an insured credit union under 
 

section 201 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 
 1781).

    (2) Member bank.--The term ``member bank'' has the meaning 
 given the term in the third undesignated paragraph of the first 
 section of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221).

    (b) Prohibition.--No covered credit union, member bank, or State-
chartered non-member bank with more than $50,000,000,000 in total 
consolidated assets, or a subsidiary of the covered credit union, 
member bank, or State-chartered non-member bank, may use the Automated 
Clearing House Network if that member bank, credit union, or subsidiary 
of the member bank or credit union, refuses to do business with any 
person who is in compliance with the law, including 

section 8 of this 
Act.

SEC. 8. FAIR ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Bank.--The term ``bank''--
        (A) means an entity for which the Office of the 
 Comptroller of the Currency is the appropriate Federal 
 banking agency, as defined in 

section 3 of the Federal 
 Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and
        (B) includes--
            (i) member banks;
            (ii) non-member banks;
            (iii) covered credit unions;
            (iv) State-chartered non-member banks; and
            (v) trust companies.

    (2) Covered bank.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``covered bank'' means a 
 bank that has the ability to--
            (i) raise the price a person has to pay to 
 obtain an offered financial service from the 
 bank or from a competitor; or
            (ii) significantly impede a person, or the 
 business activities of a person, in favor of or 
 to the advantage of another person.
        (B) Presumption.--
            (i) In general.--A bank shall not be 
 presumed to be a covered bank if the bank has 
 less than $50,000,000,000 in total assets.
            (ii) Rebuttable presumption.--
            (I) In general.--A bank is presumed 
 to be a covered bank if the bank has 
 $50,000,000,000 or more in total 
 assets.
            (II) Rebuttal.--A bank that meets 
 the criteria under subclause
            (I) can 
 seek to rebut this presumption by 
 submitting to the Office of the 
 Comptroller of the Currency written 
 materials that, in the judgement of the 
 agency, demonstrate the bank does not 
 meet the definition of covered bank.

    (3) Covered credit union.--The term ``covered credit 
 union'' means--
        (A) any insured credit union, as defined in 

section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752); 
 or
        (B) any credit union that is eligible to make 
 application to become an insured credit union under 
 

section 201 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 
 1781).

    (4) Deny.--The term ``deny'' means to deny or refuse to 
 enter into or terminate an existing financial services 
 relationship with a person.

    (5) Fair access to financial services.--The term ``fair 
 access to financial services'' means persons engaged in 
 activities lawful under Federal law are able to obtain 
 financial services at banks without impediments caused by a 
 prejudice against or dislike for a person or the business of 
 the customer, products or services sold by the person, or 
 favoritism for market alternatives to the business of the 
 person. Refusing to provide or continue to provide financial 
 services to a person because the person engaged in rude or 
 harassing conduct toward an employee of a bank is not a 
 violation of this section.

    (6) Financial service.--The term ``financial service'' 
 means a financial product or service, including--
        (A) commercial and merchant banking;
        (B) lending;
            (C) financing;
            (D) leasing;
        (E) cash, asset and investment management and 
 advisory services;
        (F) credit card services;
        (G) payment processing;
        (H) security and foreign exchange trading and 
 brokerage services; and
            (I) insurance products.

    (7) Member bank.--The term ``member bank'' has the meaning 
 given the term in the third undesignated paragraph of the first 
 section of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221).

    (b) Requirements.--

    (1) In general.--To provide fair access to financial 
 services, a covered bank (including a subsidiary of a covered 
 bank), except as necessary to comply with another provision of 
 law--
        (A) shall make each financial service it offers 
 available to all persons in the geographic market 
 served by the covered bank on proportionally equal 
 terms;
        (B) may not deny any person a financial service the 
 covered bank offers unless the denial is justified by 
 such quantified and documented failure of the person to 
 meet quantitative, impartial risk-based standards 
 established in advance by the covered bank;
            (C) may not deny, in coordination with or at the 
 request of others, any person a financial service the 
 covered bank offers; and
            (D) shall, when denying any person financial 
 services the covered bank offers, provide written 
 justification to the person explaining the basis for 
 the denial, including any specific laws or regulations 
 the covered bank believes are being violated by the 
 person or customer, if any.

    (2) Justification requirement.--A justification described 
 in paragraph

    (1)
            (D) may not be based solely on the reputational 
 risk to the covered bank.
            (c) Cause of Action for Violations of This Section.--

    (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
 law, a person may commence a civil action in the appropriate 
 district court of the United States against any covered bank 
 that violates or fails to comply with the requirements under 
 this Act, for harm that person suffered as a result of such 
 violation.

    (2) No exhaustion.--It shall not be necessary for a person 
 to exhaust its administrative remedies before commencing a 
 civil action under this Act.

    (3) Damages.--If a person prevails in a civil action under 
 this Act, a court shall award the person--
        (A) reasonable attorney's fees and costs; and
        (B) treble damages.
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