Jonathan V. Gould

Stories

Trump's debanking war with Wall Street

Leading federal investigation into bank debanking practices

Donald Trump banked with JPMorgan Chase for decades; after the January 6 Capitol attack, the bank gave him 60 days to move hundreds of millions of dollars. As sitting president, he's suing the bank and its CEO for $5 billion, alleging political discrimination.

Updated May 22

U.S. regulators dismantle post-crisis limits on leveraged lending

Rule Changes

Regulator leading OCC’s withdrawal from leveraged-lending guidance

In March 2013, U.S. bank regulators issued joint supervisory guidance on leveraged lending to prevent a return of pre-2008-style underwriting excesses, with examiners informally anchoring scrutiny around a roughly six-times-EBITDA leverage benchmark. Over the next decade, banks' pullback shifted riskier deal finance toward private-credit funds, CLOs, and other nonbanks—expanding an opaque "shadow banking" ecosystem even as regulators maintained the guidance was supervisory, not a binding rule.

Updated May 9

Notable Quotes

"The OCC is committed to ending efforts—whether instigated by regulators or banks—that would weaponize finance. It is unfortunate that the nation's largest banks thought these harmful debanking policies were an appropriate use of their government-granted charter and market power." — December 2025

from Trump's debanking war with Wall Street · Updated May 22

In recent testimony, Gould said the OCC is working to ‘reset its risk tolerance and refocus supervision on material financial risks so banks may better support a thriving economy.’

from U.S. regulators dismantle post-crisis limits on leveraged lending · Updated May 9