Donald Trump is considering a possible executive order that would require banks to make sure customers are U.S. citizens to create or keep their accounts, according to a new report.
The proposed action, reported byThe Wall Street Journal, would see banks collect information on individuals’ citizenship through requests for a new category of documents in order to open the accounts.
The Independent has contacted the White House for confirmation or further information about reports of the executive order, which has reportedly raised eyebrows among some banks in recent days.
If only people worked together like that, we’d do amazing things.
If your bank is legally required to unilaterally take your wealth from you at the whim of Trump, everyone with wealth will put it elsewhere. Historically, bank runs are much harder to stop than start.
The same concern looms over govts threatening to sieze accounts that belong to the Kremlin over Ukraine. If anyone does it, they are implicitly signaling to their other clients that their funds are not safe from political strife.