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A NAFCU-supported bill to ensure banking regulators are not participating in the Justice Department's Operation Choke Point is expected to get a House vote today. NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler urged House leaders to support the bill.

H.R. 766, the "Financial Institutions Customer Protections Act," would require federal regulators to provide a material reason for ordering financial institutions to terminate account relationships, essentially blocking the Operation Choke Point initiative.

Thaler, in a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said this legislation is "critical to ensure the federal banking regulators do not create an environment that produces a chilling effect on access to financial services to consumers engaging in lawful behavior."

He continued, "This practice not only denies the consumer their right to financial services but could create a liability for depository institutions that are coerced into denying these individuals financial services."

The Operation Choke Point initiative was launched to fight consumer fraud by denying fraudulent businesses access to banking services; it holds financial institutions and third-party processors accountable if they continue to serve a client operating in a fraudulent manner.

The bill was favorably reported out of the House Financial Services Committee last July.