Trump Regulator's Rule Would Force Banks To Lend To Gun-Makers And Oil Drillers

The Trump administration is trying to force banks to make loans to gun-makers and to finance payday lenders. Critics call the move bizarre. It's opposed by watchdog groups and banks.

Transcript

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With only nine days left in his term, President Trump's administration is trying to push through a rule that could force banks to offer loans to gun-makers or finance high-cost payday lenders even when banks don't want to. The banks don't like this and either do consumer watchdog groups. Here's NPR's Chris Arnold.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: The move follows announcements by some of the biggest U.S. banks that there are some industries or projects that they just don't want anything to do with - drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or making loans to gun manufacturers who make assault-style weapons. Some big banks have sworn that off. Now, though, a Trump-appointed banking regulator is pushing forward a rule that would make that a discriminatory practice.

JOHN COURT: It's a very poorly constructed rule that, in my view, is not well thought out, is clearly hastily conceived and hastily constructed.

ARNOLD: John Court is head of regulatory affairs at the Bank Policy Institute, which represents the biggest banks in the country. The rule was proposed in November after President Trump lost the election. Court says it looks like the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is scrambling to enact it before the Biden administration begins next week. Court says many financial firms are getting more focused on so-called environmental social governance - or ESG issues.

COURT: Among those are racial equality, climate, other issues. And this proposal clearly would undercut the ability of a banking organization to achieve or administer any so-called ESG goals that it might have.

ARNOLD: The rule is based on the concept of fair access to credit. That, for a long time, has had to do with preventing racial discrimination. The OCC declined an interview. But its acting head, Brian Brooks, said in a press release, quote, "fair access to financial services, credit and capital are essential to our economy." That sounds good, except critics say the rule is really about forcing banks to offer financing to assault rifle makers or even predatory payday lenders that charge 300% interest rates.

REBECCA BORNE: Payday lenders not only disproportionately harm people of color, they target communities of color.

ARNOLD: Rebecca Borne is a lawyer with the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending.

BORNE: So the agency is really taking the language of civil rights to do something that's fundamentally inconsistent with the original intent of that language, you know, exacerbating lending discrimination and cloaking it in this language of civil rights.

ARNOLD: The main trade group for payday lenders - it's called INFiN - said in a statement that the new rule would protect legal businesses from discrimination. If the Trump administration finalizes the rule before President-elect Biden takes office, John Court says that would make it harder for the new administration to undo it, but not impossible. And, he says, if it comes to it, banks would likely sue to try to stop the rule because, he says, at issue is something really important. Do banks have the right to make lending decisions based on what they think is good or bad for society?

COURT: It's removing the ability to make decisions. It's removing that from the bank and, effectively, vesting it in a government mandate.

ARNOLD: The rule could also be scrapped by Congress, especially since Democrats will now control both the House and the Senate.

Chris Arnold, NPR News.

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