Unhappy with "political purging" leading to forced account closures! Trump angrily sues JPMorgan Chase, reigniting the "debanking" controversy

According to reports, U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon, accusing the bank of abruptly closing multiple accounts related to Trump without prior notice, bringing the long-standing issue of “debanking” in the crypto industry back into the spotlight. According to the complaint, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan Chase, in February 2021, just after Trump’s previous term ended, forcibly closed several accounts held by companies owned by Trump, including his restaurants and golf courses, without prior notice or providing remedies. The plaintiff claims that JPMorgan Chase’s unilateral decision was motivated by “political and social reasons.” The complaint states: “Essentially, JPMorgan Chase closed the plaintiff’s bank accounts because the bank believed the political climate at the time was favorable for doing so.” The term “debanking” has frequently appeared in the cryptocurrency industry in recent years. Many crypto companies and practitioners have long complained that opening and maintaining bank accounts in the U.S. is as difficult as climbing a mountain. Even if they are legal and compliant, they are often rejected by banks on the grounds of “risk considerations.” Within the crypto industry, this phenomenon is also referred to as “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” in contrast to the 2013 U.S. Department of Justice initiative called “Operation Choke Point 1.0.” Back then, the U.S. government, citing the fight against fraud and money laundering, restricted banks from providing financial services to certain “high-risk industries,” including payday lenders and gun merchants. “Operation Choke Point 2.0” refers to the period during the Biden administration when regulators, through various “informal means,” indirectly excluded the cryptocurrency industry from the mainstream banking system. In fact, since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have all pledged that in future reviews of banking relationships, “reputational risk” will no longer be one of the evaluation criteria. In response to Trump’s allegations, JPMorgan Chase issued a statement emphasizing that the bank “does not close accounts based on political or religious beliefs.” The statement reads:

We close accounts because these clients pose legal or compliance risks to the company. We regret this, but current rules and regulatory requirements force us to do so.