Public Participation

A draft of the executive order, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, directs bank regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions might have violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial-protection laws.

Violators could be subject to monetary penalties, consent decrees or other disciplinary measures, according to the draft.

The order could be signed as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter. It is possible the order could get delayed or that the administration’s plans will change.

The draft order doesn’t name any specific banks but appears to refer to an instance where Bank of America was accused of shutting down the accounts of a Christian organization operating in Uganda based on the organization’s religious beliefs. The bank has said it closed the accounts because it doesn’t serve small businesses operating outside the U.S.

The draft order also criticizes the role that some banks played in an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.

“The banks discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks,” Trump said.

A JPMorgan spokeswoman said that the bank doesn’t close accounts for political reasons and that it agreed with Trump that regulatory change is needed.

Banks have been on edge about potential action by the Trump administration. The Journal reported in June that the administration was considering an executive order.

Conservatives for years have accused banks of denying them services on political or religious grounds, and cryptocurrency companies have said they were shut out of banking services under the Biden administration.

Banks, for their part, have said their decisions are driven by legal, regulatory or financial risks, including those stemming from the U.S.’s antimoney-laundering laws. They have blamed regulatory pressure for prior decisions to largely steer clear of the crypto industry.

Over the past several hs, banks have moved to head off action by the federal government, meeting with Republican attorneys general and updating their policies to clearly state they don’t discriminate on the basis of political affiliation.

The draft of the order viewed by the Journal directs regulators to strike any policies they have that might have contributed to banks dropping certain customers. It also directs the Small Business Administration to initiate a review of banks where the agency guarantee loans.

Under Trump, banking regulators have said they would stop assessing banks for what is called the reputational risk posed by their customers—a practice that banks have cited for their decisions to avoid certain customers or industries.

The draft order also calls for regulators to refer potential violations to the attorney general in some cases. The Justice Department in April said it was launching a task force in Virginia, to examine allegations of banks refusing customers access to credit or other services based on “impermissible factors.”

Write to Dylan Tokar at dylan.tokar@wsj.com and Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com