Banks aren’t as eager to get our money as we think. Popular adult film actress Chanel Preston recently opened an account at City National Bank in Los Angeles – known as the “bank to the stars”– but later learned her account was closed due to “compliance issues” when she went to make a deposit.
The adult entertainment industry is a profitable entity, banking $14 billion in profits a year. But major banks like JPMorgan Chase are waving their fingers of disapproval at the porn stars and adult entertainment industry associates. Marc Greenberg, founder of the soft porn studio MRG Entertainment, recently filed a discrimination suit against JPMorgan Chase in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing the bank violated fair lending laws and its own policy for refusing to underwrite a loan for “moral reasons.”
Greenberg found that his loan application was refused due to “moral reasons, because of JPMorgan’s disapproval of the plaintiff’s former source of income and occupation as an owner of a television production company that produced television programs that dealt with the subject of human sexuality.”
The problems are not as common with personal accounts. It’s the business accounts under the pseudonyms that causes the bankers to take precaution.
The courts will decide if these financial institutions are within their rights to deny loans and service due to moral issues or if this precautionary practice is actually discriminatory.
