WASHINGTON — Twelve Democratic senators are calling on banks to follow the lead of Citigroup and Bank of America in limiting their business with firearms dealers in light of recent mass shootings.
Processing Content
The senators, led by Dianne Feinstein of California and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, wrote letters to 11 banks — including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley — endorsing corporate policies that raise the minimum age to purchase firearms, require background checks on sales, and prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and assault-style weapons.
“We applaud this model of corporate responsibility and we hope that this is the path forward for similar financial entities,” the senators said. “There is a growing consensus in the private sector that companies can and should take action to address the problem of gun violence in our country.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, questions witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017 Congress is putting Facebook, Twitter and Google under a public microscope about Russia's use of their networks to meddle in the 2016 election, a day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal investigation disclosed its first indictments and guilty plea. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The letter comes as Republicans have criticized BofA and Citi's stances, while on the other side the New York State Department of Financial Services has urged state-chartered banks to reassess any ties with the National Rifle Association and other groups, citing reputational risk concerns.
Citi banned retailers that use the bank from offering bump stocks and selling guns to underage customers or those who haven’t passed background checks. BofA said it would stop making loans to companies that manufacture assault-style weapons used for nonmilitary purposes. Wells Fargo, on the other hand, has said that lawmakers, not companies, should set gun policy.
Part of the growing "phishing-as-a-service" economy, the Spiderman kit offers novice hackers sophisticated tools to target customers of major EU institutions.
Banks may need to offer people over the age of 65 more than just digital experiences, according to an executive at J.D. Power, which surveyed more than 11,000 retail banking customers.
In a move some industry observers call "dangerous and irresponsible," the administration is taking down consumer protection guardrails that have been put up by states like California and Colorado.
Rohit Chopra is named senior advisor to the Democratic Attorneys General Association's working group on consumer protection and affordability; Flagstar Bank adds additional wealth-planning capabilities to its private banking division; Chime promotes three members of its executive leadership team; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Friday approved national trust charter applications for five crypto firms, affirming the administration's push to allow crypto companies the ability to take deposits.
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in statements Friday that their dissents from this week's interest rate decision were spurred by inflation concerns and a lack of sufficient economic data.
