A federal bill to normalize banking for the cannabis industry has been reintroduced in Congress. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would provide a create a legal framework for banking and financial services to serve state-legal cannabis businesses, has passed the House of Representatives several times but has never been voted on by the full Senate.
In a statement, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who first co-sponsored the legislation in 2017, said lawmakers “must make sure that businesses in states where marijuana is legal…have access to bank accounts and other financial services.”
“I’m proud to support this legislation that will help Nevada small businesses and make our communities safer in the long run. It’s time to finally get this bill done.” — Cortez Masto in a press release
The SAFE Banking Act would protect banks and their officers who provide financial services to legitimate, state-sanctioned cannabis businesses from criminal prosecution and liability and asset forfeiture, while maintaining banks’ right to choose not to offer those services. It would also provide protections for hemp and hemp-derived CBD related businesses and require banks to comply with current Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidance.
Additionally, this bill would prevent federal banking regulators from prohibiting, penalizing or discouraging a bank from providing financial services to state-sanctioned and regulated cannabis business, or associated businesses, such as lawyers or landlords that provide services to the sector; terminating or limiting a bank’s federal deposit insurance primarily because the bank is providing services to a state-sanctioned cannabis business or associated business; recommending or incentivizing a bank to halt or downgrade providing any kind of banking services to these businesses; and taking any action on a loan to an owner or operator of a cannabis-related business.
The proposal is co-sponsored in the Senate by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Patty Murray (D-WA).
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