WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A top U.S. banking

regulator said Monday it was rolling out new guidance to

discourage banks from cutting off, or "debanking", customers on

political and religious grounds, a month after President Donald

Trump directed oversight agencies to scrutinize banks for

political bias.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said in

a statement it had issued two bulletins explaining how it would

scrutinize bank policies for avoiding such discrimination and

how banks should limit sharing of customer data in reporting

suspicious activity to government authorities.

The OCC is the primary regulator for the nation's largest

banks, which hold the lion's share of consumer deposits.

The White House and conservatives have accused financial

institutions of seeking to silence right-leaning political

speech and activities by closing customer accounts and avoiding

conservative businesses.

Trump last month also accused JPMorgan ( JPM ) and Bank of

America ( BAC ), without citing evidence, of refusing his

deposits on political grounds. Neither bank directly addressed

his claims but JPMorgan ( JPM ) said it did not close accounts for

political reasons.

A Reuters analysis shows that few consumers have lodged

complaints about debanking in recent years.