By Peter Berton
LOS ANGELES – Adult performer Chanel Preston has won numerous industry awards over the past three years … but can she take her success to the bank?
Hardly: According to CNBC contributor Chris Morris, City National Bank in Los Angeles recently closed Preston’s business account, citing vague “compliance issues.” When Preston tracked down the manager who had set up the account, she discovered her connection to the adult entertainment industry apparently made her a business risk.
“The bank, she was told, was worried about the webcam shows she had on her site and had revoked the account,” Morris reported. “City National declined to comment on Preston’s accusations and on whether it had any policy regarding accounts tied to the porn industry.”
Preston is not the only porn person to be pilloried by bankers playing public moralists. MRG Entertainment founder Mark Greenberg recently filed suit against JPMorgan Chase in Los Angeles Superior Court, “alleging the bank violated fair lending laws and its own policy for refusing to underwrite a loan for ‘moral reasons,” Morris noted.
Greenberg’s legal action erupted after he attempted to refinance an existing loan — at the bank’s behest. When the bank subsequently neglected to address the refinance request for four months, Greenberg asked a vice president to explain the delay.
The bank officer initially dodged the questions, only to admit, finally, “plaintiff’s loan application was refused due to ‘moral reasons,’ because of JPMorgan’s disapproval of 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,” court documents note.
“JPMorgan purports to be so ashamed of nudity and human sexuality that it cannot process a refinance of a home loan of plaintiff, secured by plaintiff’s house, because plaintiff’s source of income six years ago included production of television programs that contained nudity and human sexuality,” the complaint continued.
Apparently discrimination against adult entertainment professionals is not uncommon at banks, which frequently hide behind a claim that ties to porn can jeopardize a bank’s existence by casting a pall over its reputation.
“The decision to open or maintain an account is up to the individual institution,” FDIC spokesperson David Barr told CNBC. “[Federal banking] rules are not prescriptive, which means that the bank must make its own assessment to determine the risks associated with an account and whether that account should be terminated or not opened in the first place.”
The moral? “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is the watch-phrase for adult industry people applying for bank accounts and loans.
In our opinion, banks have a lot of nerve calling anyone else’s business “immoral,” considering how many shenanigans Wall Street has engaged in recently. Foreclosing on thousands of questionable mortgages during the height of the global recession — thereby leaving average Americans virtually adrift and without recourse — is only one of the egregious violations of the public trust laid at the feet of the “too big to jail” financial industry.
When it comes to knowing how to screw people, porn stars are virgins compared to bankers.
