JPMorgan hints at why it shut down Trump’s bank accounts after $5B lawsuit. Is ‘debanking’ against the law in America?

Financial elephantine JPMorgan Chase has recovered itself connected a agelong database of organizations that are being sued by President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit, filed connected Jan. 22 successful a Florida authorities court, alleges the slope debanked him and his affiliated concern entities by closing accounts successful 2021 for politically motivated reasons, according to a study by Reuters (1).

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The steadfast was speedy to respond, stating, successful part, “we judge the suit has nary merit … Our institution does not adjacent accounts for governmental oregon spiritual reasons” (2).

Although the little property merchandise published connected JPMorgan’s website doesn’t elaborate connected precisely wherefore this moving narration was suspended, it does driblet what whitethorn beryllium a hint: “We bash adjacent accounts due to the fact that they make ineligible oregon regulatory hazard for the company.”

The framing could bespeak that ineligible risk, alternatively than a governmental agenda, was the driving unit down the bank’s action. It besides highlights however tightly regulated the fiscal services assemblage is and wherefore freezing oregon suspending slope accounts is reasonably common, adjacent for mean customers.

Trump’s entanglement with ineligible challenges dates backmost decades. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Trump and his begetter for radical favoritism successful 1973 (3). Since then, the now-politician has faced and filed hundreds of lawsuits, galore of which are presently active. As of February, 2026, the Trump medication faces 228 progressive ineligible cases, according to Lawfare’s unrecorded tracker (4).

It’s possibly casual to spot wherefore Trump would beryllium considered a high-risk lawsuit for a notoriously risk-averse industry.

Banks run successful a highly regulated situation wherever anti-money laundering (AML), cognize your lawsuit (KYC) and lawsuit owed diligence (CDD) rules are among those that are halfway to compliance.

Financial institutions could look sanctions, fines oregon ineligible liability for failing to comply with these regulations, which creates “incentives for banks to record millions of Suspicious Activity Reports and, successful immoderate cases, designate customers arsenic ‘high risk’ adjacent if their existent likelihood of transgression enactment is low,” according to the Bank Policy Institute (5).

Banks tin besides often beryllium legally prohibited from disclosing the reasons for relationship closure to the customer, notes the BPI.