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The final rule from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency takes effect Tuesday, June 9, according to the Federal Register.
The agencies issued the rule on Tuesday, April 7, according to a joint FDIC and OCC release.
It bars the FDIC and OCC from criticizing or taking adverse action against a bank based on reputation risk alone.
It also says the agencies cannot require, instruct, or encourage a bank to close an account, deny a product or service, or change terms based on a customer’s political, social, cultural, or religious views. They also cannot do so based on a customer’s constitutionally protected speech. The same protections apply to lawful business activity that is politically disfavored.
In plain English, the rule is aimed at what critics call debanking: pressure that can leave people, businesses, or groups without access to ordinary financial services for reasons not tied to their individual financial risk.
The change does not give every customer a right to keep an account. Banks and regulators can still act on concrete risks, including credit, market, operational, cybersecurity, information security, illicit-finance, sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act, and anti-money laundering concerns.
The final rule says those traditional risks remain in bounds as long as they are not used as a pretext to continue reputation-risk supervision.
The Federal Register says reputation risk means the risk that a bank's action or inaction could harm public perception for reasons not clearly and directly tied to the bank's financial or operational condition.
The rule also follows President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14331, "Guaranteeing Fair Banking For All Americans," signed Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, according to the Federal Register.
The order directed federal banking regulators to remove reputation risk or similar concepts that could lead to politicized or unlawful debanking from guidance, manuals, and other materials.
Consumer Finance Monitor reported on Wednesday, April 15, that the FDIC and OCC action came as other federal financial regulators had also moved to remove reputation risk from supervision policies.
For consumers and business owners, the practical question is not whether banks can close accounts. They can. The shift is about the reason behind a closure or service denial, and whether federal regulators can lean on banks using reputation-based or ideological concerns rather than measurable risk.
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