AMAC members are engaged in the effort to hold big banks accountable for cancelling services to consumers and organizations who hold worldviews that the leadership of these financial institutions find objectionable. Last year, they sent JP Morgan Chase executives over 91,000 messages to help hold the bank accountable for the decision to assault the free speech rights of fossil fuel companies, arms manufacturers, and religious organizations. This assault included denying services to former Ambassador Sam Brownback’s non-profit, the National Committee for Religious Freedom.
The strategy these financial institutions use to close accounts, or de-bank, individuals and organizations who dare subscribe to a contrary, unapproved worldview includes employing vague reputational risk policies. Back in 2014, Deloitte defined reputational risk as being “risks related to ethics and integrity, such as fraud, bribery, and corruption. Next come security risks, including both physical and cyber breaches – followed closely by product and service risks…” A recent glaring example of an organization that completely mishandled its management of reputational risk and allowed it to spiral into a full-blown marketing disaster is Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light fiasco of last year.
Today, some financial institutions have stretched the definition of reputational risk to include damage the bank perceives customers with a conservative mindset can do to the institution’s reputation, real or imagined. Unfortunately, these policies provide some cover for banks to persecute consumers on the basis of political ideology.
Pushback against these reputational risk strategies is beginning to emerge. The state of Mississippi is currently considering SB 2118, the Equality in Financial Services Act, which is legislation that according to the bill’s text, would prohibit financial institutions from “…denying financial services based on a person’s religious exercise, association, speech, social views or participation in a particular industry…”.
AMAC Action, on behalf of the over 19,000 AMAC members in Mississippi, went on the record recently to support SB 2118. We’re also working with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a leading Christian law firm dedicated to protecting religious freedom and free speech among other civil rights, to ascertain other egregious acts of persecution of conservatives by financial institutions as well as identifying bills that are similar to SB 2118 in other states.
Matt Sharp, Senior Counsel, Director of the Center for Public Policy at Alliance Defending Freedom, said this about Mississippi’s Equality in Financial Services Act, “Everyone needs access to basic financial services no matter their political or religious beliefs. Banks that are too big to fail are too big for bias. Banks should not discriminate against people because of their religious or political views. Like the racial redlining of the past, this form of discrimination creates a two-tiered society. That’s wrong, and that’s what this bill seeks to stop in its tracks.”
AMAC members have demonstrated their commitment to ending these biased banking practices and AMAC Action will continue our efforts to call out the financial institutions that practice warped reputational risk policies and advocate for strong laws that prohibit this kind of discrimination.
Bravo, Mississippi! The other 49 states should follow suit. Also, HOW STUPID ARE THESE BANKS? Did it ever occur to them that they are risking their reputations by alienating their customers? It would serve them right if the customers they’re discriminating against take their business elsewhere and urge their families and friends to do the same.
I applaud AMAC as a group that fights the tyrannic acts of both Democrats and Republicans. Common sense being long gone in most politics.
Don’t forget about Executive Order 14067, Section 4, signed by Dictator Beijing biden on 3-9-23, that violates the U.S. Constitution, Commerce Laws, and Privacy Laws.
It states: LEGAL (Unconstitutional) SURVEILLANCE of ALL U.S. Citizens (Does NOT include ALL Illegal Aliens and his Illegal Alien Terrorist Invasion being surveilled), COMPLETE CONTROL of ALL Bank Accounts and Purchases (Unconstitutional and Violation of Privacy), The ability to CRUSH FREE SPEECH and SILENCE opposing voices (Censorship by Violating 1st Amendment Rights). This is so there is ONLY ONE political party and that is Socialist democrats with ZERO future elections.
This is the DICTATOR Beijing biden in the White House who stood before the American people with his BLOOD RED Flag behind him (Signing OVER 300 Executive Orders written likely by obama and H. clinton making it more than ALL former Presidents combined in U.S. History) who has constantly attacked Americans including our Independence, Freedom of Choice, Economy, Energy Independence, Killed OUR FOOD SUPPLY by Shutting Down the USA for 2 YEARS by HIDING the TRUTH using abuse of POWER for CONTROL about the China Virus when the CDC told him in his first few weeks in office that he didn’t have to shut down the country since we had already reach Immunity, Lies on Global Warming, Lies on his so-called Green Energy Agenda, Border Security, Privacy Rights, Freedoms, and U.S. Constitution by giving Communist China, Ukraine, IRAN, TERRORIST, and his ILLEGAL ALIENS more FOOD, Jobs, Rights, and MONEY than Americans. He doesn’t even enforce the Sanctions against Iran selling Oil to Communist China among other countries but Communist China has Tankers getting Oil every week from Iran. He even made San Francisco into Communist China with all those Communist flags flying on U.S. Soil. SELLS our Oil from the National Strategic Oil Reserves to Communist China and still HASN’T refilled it (Act of Espionage and Treason giving aid and comfort to our enemies). Talk about a HUGE SLAP in the face to Americans and OUR SOVEREIGNTY. That was a Pure Act of Espionage and Treason. The list goes on. Not to forget that the FAKE news and liberal Social Media CENSORING Americans to hide his crimes protecting him and Hunter (Stealing Sensitive Highly Classified Documents among countless other crimes) and corruption of SELLING OUT the UNITED STATES of AMERICA for the past 51 YEARS for POWER. We were NUMBER ONE in the world and the world was SAFER with President Trump. Since day one of Dictator Beijing biden we went IMMEDIATELY to LAST and made us the laughing stock of the world while putting us on the Brink of WWIII.
This is another reason why I am voting for President Trump.
Good job for AMAC members in Mississippi.
THANK YOU AMAC AND ALL PATRIOTS ! THE DEMOCRAT PARTY NEEDS TO BE ARRESTED AND BIDEN FOR BREAKING THE LAW EVERYDAY AND BREAKING THE CONSTITUTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where were their worries when they were lending millions and millions of dollars without any collateral to clients that were not in a position to repay ever but borrowed more But not to worry Government almighty to the rescue of a fallen comrade
As bad as this is it pales to what would happen if cash were outlawed, all our money and savings in CBDC with digital identity, on and on. The globalist elites with all the power could confiscate and cancel our money, control our spending. Too awful to contemplate.
ONE MORE BIG BANK GONE WOKE
“Gratitude is the armor that shields us from negativity. Thank you for reinforcing our defenses with your motivational posts!”