Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Crapo (R-ID) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced legislation to place certain limits on the Federal government’s Operation Choke Point.  S. 2790, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2016 is a companion bill to  H.R. 766 introduced by Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), which passed the House in February. We sent the Senators a letter in support of their legislation. 

The legislation would limit Federal banking regulators’ ability to discourage or restrict depository institutions from entering into or maintaining a financial services relationship with specific customers unless certain criteria are met.  The legislation would also limit regulators’ ability to pressure financial institutions to terminate customer accounts, requiring regulators to have a material reason for termination that is not based solely on the reputational risk posed by the customer before pressuring the financial institution to close the account. 

Credit unions are committed to maintaining the ability to serve their members while strictly following all laws and governing regulations.  We believe that S. 2790 is a reasonable approach to preventing fraud and maintaining financial integrity, without overreaching.