Arkansas A.G. Joins Letter Addressing De-Banking

Religious Freedom, ,

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin recently joined 22 other state attorneys general in a public letter addressing the rising trend of politicized de-banking.

The letter urges proxy voting advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Service and Glass Lewis to give equal treatment and provide transparency in their advice regarding shareholder resolutions that address de-banking.

Family Council has written repeatedly about how de-banking hurts charities and conservative causes.

In 2021, our credit card processor — a company owned by Chase Bank — canceled our account with virtually no notice and no explanation.

In 2022, Chase abruptly closed the account of Ambassador Sam Brownback’s National Committee for Religious Freedom with little warning or explanation, and PayPal similarly disabled the account of a group called the Free Speech Union.

All of this prompted Arkansas and several other states to send a letter to the CEO of JPMorgan Chase expressing deep concern over the company’s pattern of de-banking conservative groups last May.

The A.G.’s letter to Institutional Shareholder Service and Glass Lewis voices similar concerns over these issues, saying,

Your companies, International Shareholder Services, Inc., and Glass Lewis & Co., provide proxy voting advice to many businesses and investors who are citizens of our States as well as to our States’ investment vehicles.

That voting advice directly impacts how our Nation’s largest companies operate. . . .

Your lack of transparency is troubling. And your voting recommendations on debanking proposals may breach your legal obligations. We seek more transparency and written assurance that you will cease any practice that violates the law, including your duty to act in the best interest of the citizens of our States, or your stated policies on recommendations.

Alliance Defending Freedom notes,

While billing themselves as viewpoint-neutral, both ISS and Glass Lewis regularly endorse shareholder resolutions for left-of-center causes such as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). At the same time, the firms have consistently opposed resolutions calling for transparency and internal reporting on potential instances of politically motivated de-banking—resolutions dismissed by ISS as “anti-ESG” along with nearly every other conservative proposal.

You can read the A.G.’s letter to Institutional Shareholder Service and Glass Lewis here.

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Thursday is “Bring Your Bible to School Day”

Religious Freedom

Thursday, October 5, is national Bring Your Bible to School Day.

This is a day for students across the country to exercise their First Amendment rights by bringing copies of God’s Word with them to school. It’s also an opportunity for students to discuss their faith and share the gospel with their friends outside of class time. Bring Your Bible to School Day is a movement sponsored by our friends at Focus on the Family.

Last year, 877,353 students took part in this amazing event! If you don’t have a student in public school, there still may be ways you or your church can help Bring Your Bible to School Day be successful.

Visit BringYourBible.com to learn more.

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CBN Highlights How Family Council and Others Affected by “De-Banking”

Religious Freedom, ,

Last week the Christian Broadcasting Network reported how banks in America have been weaponized against conservative organizations. This is especially true of Christian groups that have been “de-banked” by JPMorgan Chase and others.

The CBN story — which you can watch above or read here — cites Family Council among the groups who have had their bank accounts closed.

At 10:29 AM on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, our office received a terse email from our credit card processor — a company owned by JPMorgan Chase — saying, “Unfortunately, we can no longer support your business. We wish you all the luck in the future, and hope that you find a processor that better fits your payment processing needs.”

Within sixty seconds, our account was terminated and and Family Council could no longer accept donations online.

Just like the CBN story highlights, eventually we learned the company had designated Family Council as “High Risk.” According to their Terms of Service, High Risk companies include:

  • Astrology and psychic services
  • Career placement services
  • Cyberlockers and file sharing or storage services
  • Companies that conduct research or testing on animals
  • Companies known to have issues with labor or working conditions
  • Companies involved in land acquisition and involuntary resettlement
  • Companies who have been subject to allegations related to human rights violations
  • Pawn shops
  • Private prison operators

The list goes on, but it’s unclear how what prompted the bank to decide Family Council fit under the “High Risk” category. All we can do is speculate that our conservative principles and our public policy work might have had something to do with the decision.

However, the Terms of Service also let the banking service terminate our account at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Apparently that’s what they decided to do with us.

It’s frustrating that one of the largest banks in the nation would treat its customers so unfairly and unprofessionally. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior may be more common than many people realize.

You can find the full story from CBN here.

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