WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) sent a letter to its network of over 5,000 lenders instructing them to end politicized or unlawful banking practices. Pursuant to Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” SBA is requiring all lenders to stop the practice of Obama- and Biden-era debanking, and to reinstate otherwise qualified customers who were wrongfully denied access to financial services on the basis of political, religious, or ideological beliefs. Lenders who fail to comply with these directives will lose their good standing with the SBA and will be subject to additional punitive measures.

“Since the Obama Administration, financial institutions have – both independently and at the direction of federal regulators – weaponized the banking system against Americans who refused to bend the knee to a partisan ideology. Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, whose own family and businesses were debanked, those days are over,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “This Administration is putting an end to the discriminatory debanking practices that have cost too many hardworking Americans their businesses or the opportunity to start one. Access to banking should not be a partisan issue – but far too many confirmed debanking cases have targeted right-leaning businesses, non-profits, and people - including Christian, pro-life, and Second Amendment organizations.

“Any bank that retaliates against otherwise eligible customers on the basis of reputational, religious, ideological, or political beliefs will be held to account,” Loeffler continued. “The SBA is committed to protecting access to financial services for small businesses, and we are grateful to President Trump and other federal regulators for working together to end this wrongful practice.”

Both the Obama and Biden Administrations systematically pressured America’s financial institutions to engage in debanking – encouraging them to freeze or close accounts, deny loans, or refuse services to lawful businesses and individuals as a form of political retribution. Until recently, most bank executives never exposed or attempted to stop this coercion – choosing instead to ignore, yield, or join federal regulators in the systemic effort to deny banking services to ideological opponents.

Operation Chokepoint, initiated by President Obama and continued by President Biden, pressured lenders to debank gun manufacturers and other “politically disfavored” but otherwise lawful entities. There are myriad instances of religious and pro-life groups being debanked under the guise of “reputational risk.” Even President Donald J. Trump has been debanked by numerous institutions that refused to accept his deposits or closed his accounts altogether.

Meanwhile, many of these same financial institutions were also directed to increase services to support favored left-leaning political causes. Under the Biden Administration, the SBA advanced loan programs to favor private sector lending toward “green energy.” Administrator Loeffler ended the SBA’s “Green Lender Initiative” on Day One – along with the other partisan programs that funneled taxpayer dollars to pick winners and losers at the expense of qualified small business owners.

Pursuant to Executive Order 14331, the SBA’s letter has required its lenders to take the following actions by December 5, 2025:

• Identify any past or current formal or informal policies or practices that require, encourage, or otherwise influence their institution to engage in politicized or unlawful debanking as specified by the Fair Banking Executive Order.
• Make reasonable efforts to identify and reinstate any previous clients of their institution or any subsidiaries denied service through a politicized or unlawful debanking action in violation of a statutory or regulatory requirement under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) or any requirement in a Standard Operating Procedures Manual or Policy Notice, and send notice of the reinstatement to the injured party;
• Identify all potential clients denied access to financial services provided by their institution or any subsidiaries through a politicized or unlawful debanking action in violation of a statutory or regulatory requirement under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act or any requirement in a Standard Operating Procedures Manual or Policy Notice, and provide notice to each otherwise qualified client advising of the denied access and the renewed option to engage in such services previously denied; and
• Identify all potential clients denied access to payment processing services provided by your institution or any subsidiaries through a politicized or unlawful debanking action in violation of a statutory or regulatory requirement under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act or any requirement in a Standard Operating Procedures Manual or Policy Notice, and provide notice to each victim advising of the denied access and the renewed option to engage in such services previously denied.

Lenders must submit a report to the SBA by January 5, 2026, addressing and evidencing their compliance with the above directives to remain in good standing with the agency and avoid punitive measures.

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About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

SBA HQ Press Team
U.S. Small Business Administration
press_office@sba.gov