Appearing in Axios on Februrary 24, 2026, Jason Lalljee talks to Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at NCLC about how the Trump administration is considering requiring banks to collect proof of citizenship from customers via an executive order.
Trump likely couldn’t unilaterally implement these requirements via an executive order, Wu told Axios.
- Changing the law would require going through Congress.
- The administration would probably instead go through the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), a law that governs how administrative agencies can change regulations, Wu says.
- That process could take a year or two.
The Right to Financial Privacy Act has a baseline rule that “the government can’t just ask a bank to give over financial records,” Wu notes. “They have to have some sort of reason for it,” such as a subpoena.
“Any requirement that a deposit holder has to be a U.S. citizen, [banks] wouldn’t be happy about, because that would mean they lose some business from foreign nationals, and it might be valuable business,” Wu says.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under former President Biden tried to institute regulations through the APA, such as limiting credit card late fees, which banks sued over and won, Wu notes.
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