Ministry Addresses Bank of America’s De-Banking Practices at Shareholder Meeting

The religious humanitarian group had its accounts closed suddenly last year.

Today, a shareholder proposed a resolution to curb what was called viewpoint-based de-banking by Bank of America.

Steve Happ, founder of Indigenous Advance Ministries, in Uganda (photo courtesy of Indigenous Advance Ministries, via Alliance Defending Freedom)

Steve Happ, founder of Indigenous Advance Ministries, addressed Bank of America’s annual shareholders’ meeting urging them to adopt the resolution.

Happ received letters from the bank last year informing him, “Upon review of your account(s), we have determined you’re operating a business type we have chosen not to service at Bank of America.”

The account closures forced the ministry to delay paying its employees in Uganda, who often live meal to meal, Happ said at a press conference after the meeting.

“This shouldn’t have happened to us, and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” he said.

Happ and the non-profit legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a consumer complaint with the Tennessee Attorney General’s office “to investigate whether the bank illegally discriminated against the charity because of its religious views.”

Bank of America told MinistryWatch it doesn’t offer banking services to groups that provide debt collection services nor does it serve small businesses operating outside the United States.

“We are proud to provide banking services to non-profit organizations affiliated with diverse faith communities throughout the United States. Religious beliefs are not a factor in any account-closing decision,” Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin said.

Jeremy Tedesco, ADF senior vice-president representing Indigenous Advance Ministries, said the bank’s claim that the account was canceled due to debt collection services, a reason it asserted again at this week’s shareholder meeting, is “categorically false.” He noted that Indigenous Advance is located in the United States, does not collect debts, but as a relief organization, works overseas.

Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts.  To make a donation, click here.

At the press conference held after the shareholders’ meeting, Tedesco said Bank of America has been at the forefront of politicized de-banking, citing situations involving other groups such as the Timothy Two Project International and a local church in Tennessee.

He said the bank needs to be more transparent and conduct an analysis of its dealings to see if there is a pattern of viewpoint discrimination.

Tedesco also pointed out that Bank of America was named in a Congressional staff report as participating in back channel discussions with federal law enforcement, including the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the FBI, and voluntarily handed over Americans’ private financial information.

FinCEN was interested in transactions, such as those for the “purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views,” the report said.

While this week’s resolution only got about 3% of the shareholders’ votes, Tedesco called it a success that Happ was able to present the resolution and “impose public scrutiny around the de-banking decisions they have been engaged in.”

Tedesco said the vote count can be misleading in reflecting support for the resolution because it is largely controlled by “anti-conservative institutions,” including the big three asset managers, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, and the two proxy-advised services, ISS and Glass Lewis, which give voting recommendations.

Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott also appeared at the ADF press conference. He said he has seen the politicized de-banking trend happening, calling it scary and serious.

Elliott signed onto a letter with 14 other state financial officers addressed to Bank of America President Brian Moynihan expressing their “concerns over Bank of America’s troubling track record of politicized de-banking” and reminding Bank of America of its obligation “to use its privileged legal status to ensure equal access to the marketplace for all, not play politics.”

The letter called on Bank of America to take several steps, such as “updating [its] terms of service to include a commitment not to discriminate against customers based on their religious or political views” and “[p]articipat[ing] in a survey designed to help the bank assess its impact of its customers’ and employees’ civil liberties, such as the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index.”

To the ordinary citizen, Tedesco suggested calling Bank of America to complain about its de-banking practices and lack of transparency. He also said many Americans are likely shareholders in these major corporations through investment funds.

Ask one’s fund manager how he or she voted on this de-banking resolution and put pressure on them to vote in a way that is consistent with your values, Tedesco added.

TO OUR READERS: Do you have a story idea, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? Please email us: [email protected]