On November 15, 2018, in response to a November 7, 2018 letter from Republican Senators, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams announced that the FDIC has engaged outside counsel to investigate the Obama-era Operation Choke Point, under which the FDIC and other government agencies pressured banks not to do business with payday lenders. In her letter, McWilliams said that “[r]egulatory threats, undue pressure, coercion, and intimidation designed to restrict access to financial services for lawful businesses have no place at this agency.”

She appears to mean it. She went on to say that, “[w]e have placed clear limitations on the ability of any FDIC personnel to recommend the termination of account relationships, including requirements that any such recommendations be made in writing, that Regional Directors review such recommendations, and that all such recommendations are reported to the FDIC Board of Directors and Division Directors.” That internal policy is in furtherance of her deep investment in “transparency and accountability at the FDIC.”

She also backed-up the internal policy with an external check. “To ensure that the FDIC’s commitment to integrity remains unequivocally clear, I am asking an outside law firm to review the prior actions taken by the FDIC in [Operation Choke Point] so that I can better ascertain the effectiveness of our response.” “Under my leadership, the FDIC’s oversight responsibilities will be exercised based on our laws and our regulations, not personal or political beliefs,” she concluded.

As we’ve noted in earlier posts on this, litigation is currently pending in the D.C. federal court on prior FDIC administrations’ participation in Operation Choke Point.