Bill Text: TX SCR44 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress and the Trump Administration to stop federal regulators from pressuring banks to unjustly debank customers.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (N/A) 2025-04-07 - Referred to Business & Commerce [SCR44 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-SCR44-Introduced.html
| 89R20924 TBO-D | ||
| By: Parker | S.C.R. No. 44 | |
|
|
||
| WHEREAS, President Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Banking | ||
| Committee Chair Tim Scott, and U.S. House Financial Services | ||
| Committee Chair French Hill are working to stop federal regulators | ||
| from leveraging their authority to pressure banks to debank | ||
| individuals and businesses; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Banks are required by regulators to manage risk, to | ||
| know their customers, and to help detect and deter financial | ||
| crimes, including money laundering, drug trafficking, human | ||
| trafficking, and terrorism financing; they are also tasked with | ||
| filing suspicious activity reports for certain transactions and | ||
| prohibited from disclosing those reports to customers; and | ||
| WHEREAS, If a regulator determines that a bank is failing to | ||
| sufficiently manage risk, implement an adequate system to detect | ||
| and deter financial crimes, or promptly close accounts, the bank | ||
| can face significant monetary penalties, costly lawsuits, and in | ||
| some case, criminal charges; this regulatory environment allows | ||
| regulators to put intense pressure on banks, resulting in financial | ||
| institutions reevaluating or even severing their relationships | ||
| with businesses and individuals; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Examples of regulators unfairly taking advantage of | ||
| their leverage over banks include Operation Choke Point in 2013, | ||
| when several high-ranking bureaucrats attempted to pressure banks | ||
| to stop doing business with ammunition and gun sellers, payday | ||
| lenders, and other industries, and Operation Choke Point 2.0 in | ||
| 2022, when the FDIC sent letters to banks that called for a pause on | ||
| bank-crypto activity; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Numerous banks have been negatively impacted by | ||
| agencies with broad discretion to enforce complex federal laws and | ||
| regulations, and more must be done to prevent further harm; now, | ||
| therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress and the Trump | ||
| Administration to modernize anti-money laundering laws to better | ||
| focus banks and law enforcement on potential financial criminal | ||
| activity rather than the innocent banking activity of law-abiding | ||
| customers; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature express support for | ||
| increased transparency and accountability for regulators and bank | ||
| examiners to better balance legitimate concerns relating to | ||
| anti-money laundering laws while mitigating impacts to the ability | ||
| of law-abiding citizens to access financial services; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to the appointed | ||
| officials leading the Federal Reserve, the Office of the | ||
| Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC. | ||
