Additional Banking Legislation is Introduced in U.S. Congress to Assist Marijuana Businesses

HR 2215, called “The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act),” was introduced on Thursday, April 27 by Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and was co-sponsored by 28 bipartisan Congressmen[1] “to create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses, and for other purposes.”

The Bill provides that a Federal banking regulator may not penalize banking institutions for providing services to legitimate marijuana businesses in States that exercises jurisdiction over such businesses.

The Bill also contains provisions for:

(1) the protection of any forfeiture of collateral for loans or financial services to legitimate marijuana businesses; and

(2) suspicious activity reports (SARs) in compliance with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) guidelines — which must be consistent with the SAFE Banking Act.

The Bill has been referred to the House Judiciary and Financial Services Committees.

[1] Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Rep. J. Luis Correa (D-CA), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA), Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA),  Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Ruben Kinuen (D-NV), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Scott H. Peters (D-CA), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rep. Jared polis (D-CO), Rep. Dana Rehrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. Dina titus (D-NV), Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

For additional information contact a member of our Medical Marijuana Practice Group