The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, Aug. 12, edition that last week, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to prevent banks from discriminating against customers because of their politics, religion or "lawful business activities," such as owning crypto assets. The Post's Diane Francis writes that Mr. Trump told CNBC that in years past, JPMorgan and other banks have "discriminated against me very badly, and I was very good to the banks." In an attempt to prevent increased scrutiny from the federal government, many banks have increased their lobbying and updated their policies to make it clear that they do not discriminate on the basis of politics or religion. However, financial institutions will face future scrutiny. While this is an American initiative, it will affect Canadian banks because of their extensive operations south of the border. Canada's five biggest companies are all banks based in Toronto. Many of them own branches and extensive assets south of the border. It is hard to believe there could be a top-down initiative to de-bank customers based purely on politics, but in America's polarized society, particularly with localized banks, it would not be surprising.