Politically influential industries have been crying “debanking,” accusing banks of unjustly denying banking services to businesses. Recently, these complaints have picked up steam with some congressional leaders and even President Trump. What is at stake for the industry players behind these cries, the banks they are accusing of wrongdoing, the safety and stability of our financial system, and how the financial system does or does not serve all of us? How are these cries related to broader ESG and anti-ESG efforts in the banking sector and the agenda of financial deregulation?
Learn about this topic through a conversation with Graham Steele, former Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Steele’s upcoming law review article discusses federal banking agencies’ incorporation of important considerations into regulation and supervision, efforts to block these considerations, and how longstanding banking law provisions and two recent Supreme Court cases inform potential paths forward.
Steele is an academic fellow at Stanford Law School’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance. The conversation will be moderated by Natalia Renta, Associate Director of Corporate Governance and Power at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.