Louisiana treasurer urges ban on Bank of America over alleged religious discrimination

CNA Staff, Aug 16, 2024 / 14:20 pm

The treasurer of Louisiana is calling for Bank of America to be blocked from handling state government deposits due to reports that the institution is “deliberately denying banking services” to religious customers. 

The bank, meanwhile, is sharply disputing what it calls “factually incorrect” claims, adding that it has tens of thousands of faith-based clients throughout the country as well as grants and funding it distributes to numerous religious organizations.

Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming said in a statement on Monday that the financial institution should “not be approved as an authorized fiscal agent in the state of Louisiana.” The state code identifies “fiscal agent banks” as those being used “for the deposit of funds belonging to any state depositing authority.”

Fleming in his statement pointed to “evidence that Bank of America is deliberately denying banking services to customers and potential customers” in part due to their religious beliefs, a process known as “de-banking.”

The treasurer cited a November 2023 article published at the Washington Examiner that alleged Bank of America had de-banked two Christian groups: the pastoral training initiative Timothy Two Project International and the Ugandan-focused aid group Indigenous Advance Ministries.

The bank allegedly told both groups they were a type of business the institution had “chosen not to service.”

“No American should be denied access to banking services or face discrimination because of their political viewpoints, party affiliation, religious beliefs, or occupation,” Fleming said in his statement. 

Fleming said the bank’s approval as a fiscal agent “was not recommended to the Interim Emergency Board.” Under state law that board selects the fiscal agents via resolution. 

Jeff Crouere, a spokesman for the treasurer’s office, said the board followed Fleming’s recommendation. 

Fleming himself “is a member on the board, but he doesn’t have all the votes,” Crouere told CNA. “But based on his recommendation, the board did not put Bank of America on the agenda.”

“It’s a weighty recommendation,” he added. “They took it into consideration.” 

Bank has given hundreds of thousands to Catholic groups

Bank of America, meanwhile, is strongly denying the allegations. Company spokesman Bill Halldin told CNA on Thursday that “religious views are not a factor in any account decision and to suggest otherwise is, very simply, wrong.”

Halldin pointed to a May letter from Bank of America executives addressed to numerous state treasurers who had earlier expressed concern over the bank’s alleged discriminatory practices.

In the May letter, company leaders said that both Indigenous Advance Ministries and Timothy Two Project International conduct business in nations outside of the U.S. The bank says its U.S. small business division “does [not] service small business clients that operate outside of the United States.”

Indigenous Advance Ministries, meanwhile, offers its clients “debt collection services,” which Bank of America says it does not cover in its U.S. small business banking services.

Bank of America “regularly partners with religious nonprofits, including Catholic Charities, to meet needs in the communities we serve,” Halldin told CNA on Thursday. 

He pointed to a $20,000 grant distributed to a Catholic Charities organization in Wilmington, Delaware, in May, as well as a partnership between the bank and Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan to distribute groceries to seniors. 

Haldin said the bank has further provided six-figure grants to numerous Catholic charities and organizations in recent years, including $200,000 to Catholic Relief Services and similar amounts to Catholic charity groups in Boston and Los Angeles, among others.

In their May letter, bank executives said Bank of America “provides banking services to nonprofit organizations affiliated with faith-based communities throughout the United States.” 

“We have banking and investing relationships with approximately 120,000 faith-based clients in the United States,” they said. 

The institution “also support[s] our employees’ monetary donations and volunteering efforts in supporting such institutions,” the letter added.