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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, President Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Banking |
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Committee Chair Tim Scott, and U.S. House Financial Services |
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Committee Chair French Hill are working to stop federal regulators |
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from leveraging their authority to pressure banks to debank |
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individuals and businesses; and |
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WHEREAS, Banks are required by regulators to manage risk, to |
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know their customers, and to help detect and deter financial |
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crimes, including money laundering, drug trafficking, human |
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trafficking, and terrorism financing; they are also tasked with |
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filing suspicious activity reports for certain transactions and |
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prohibited from disclosing those reports to customers; and |
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WHEREAS, If a regulator determines that a bank is failing to |
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sufficiently manage risk, implement an adequate system to detect |
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and deter financial crimes, or promptly close accounts, the bank |
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can face significant monetary penalties, costly lawsuits, and in |
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some case, criminal charges; this regulatory environment allows |
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regulators to put intense pressure on banks, resulting in financial |
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institutions reevaluating or even severing their relationships |
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with businesses and individuals; and |
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WHEREAS, Examples of regulators unfairly taking advantage of |
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their leverage over banks include Operation Choke Point in 2013, |
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when several high-ranking bureaucrats attempted to pressure banks |
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to stop doing business with ammunition and gun sellers, payday |
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lenders, and other industries, and Operation Choke Point 2.0 in |
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2022, when the FDIC sent letters to banks that called for a pause on |
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bank-crypto activity; and |
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WHEREAS, Numerous banks have been negatively impacted by |
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agencies with broad discretion to enforce complex federal laws and |
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regulations, and more must be done to prevent further harm; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress and the Trump |
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Administration to modernize anti-money laundering laws to better |
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focus banks and law enforcement on potential financial criminal |
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activity rather than the innocent banking activity of law-abiding |
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customers; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature express support for |
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increased transparency and accountability for regulators and bank |
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examiners to better balance legitimate concerns relating to |
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anti-money laundering laws while mitigating impacts to the ability |
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of law-abiding citizens to access financial services; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to the appointed |
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officials leading the Federal Reserve, the Office of the |
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Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC. |