Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restores Integrity to America’s Financial System

SECURING AMERICA'S FINANCIAL SYSTEM: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Orderto protect America's financial system from illicit activity, strengthen customer identification requirements for financial institutions, and address the credit risks posed by extending financial services to non-work authorized illegal aliens.

• The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a formal advisory to financial institutions identifying red flags and suspicious activity patterns tied to payroll tax evasion, concealment of true account ownership, off-the-books wage payments and structuring schemes, labor trafficking, and the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers to open accounts or obtain credit without verified legal presence.
• The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with Federal financial regulators, to propose changes to Bank Secrecy Act regulations to strengthen customer due diligence requirements and the authority to obtain additional information when warranted, ensuring institutions can identify the true owners of accounts when necessary to assess risks related to unlawful activity.
• The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury and Federal financial regulators to consider changes to the Bank Secrecy Act to strengthen customer identification program requirements, including accounting for the risks that foreign consular identification cards pose to the U.S. financial system.
• The Order directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to consider modifying regulations to clarify that potential deportation and loss of wages are factors that could affect a borrower's ability to repay a loan under "ability-to-repay" standards.
• The Order directs Federal financial regulators to issue guidance on managing the credit risks of extending loans and financial services to illegal aliens without work authorization.

RESTORING BANKING INTEGRITY: President Trump is taking action to restore integrity to America's financial system, cracking down on illicit activity that threatens national security and ending the extension of credit to high-risk borrowers that American citizens are forced to subsidize.

• Gaps in customer identification practices have allowed terrorists, drug traffickers, money launderers, and other criminal networks to exploit U.S. financial institutions to move illicit funds and evade law enforcement.
  • Chinese money laundering networks have used U.S.-based accounts to launder over $312 billion for criminal organizations, including to finance human trafficking.
  • Financial trend analyses have uncovered hubs of illicit fentanyl-related financial activity in the United States tied to Mexico-based cartels.
• Extending mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans to illegal aliens who face potential removal or loss of wages creates structural credit risks that threaten the safety and soundness of the national banking system.
• Employers of illegal aliens may underreport wages and evade payroll taxes, distorting the income data that underpins credit underwriting and obscuring risk across the financial system.
• When banks are forced to absorb these elevated credit risks, the costs are passed on to American consumers in the form of higher fees and interest rates - restoring sound underwriting standards puts money back in the pockets of law-abiding Americans.

MAKING AMERICA THE FINANCIAL INNOVATION CAPITAL OF THE WORLD: President Trump is ensuring that America remains the global leader in financial innovation.

• President Trump signed an Executive Order to ensure that Federal regulators do not promote policies and practices that allow financial institutions to deny or restrict services based on political beliefs, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities, ensuring fair access to banking for all Americans.
• The Trump Administration ended Operation Choke Point 2.0 once and for all by working to end regulatory efforts that deny banking services to the digital assets industry.
• President Trump signed an Executive Order to ensure that every American preparing for retirement has access to funds that include investments in alternative assets.
• President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, a historic piece of legislation that will pave the way for the United States to lead the global digital currency revolution.