WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers is pushing legislation that would limit potential legal ramifications for financial institutions interested in providing services to the marijuana industry in states where it is legal.
As specified by the bill, a depository institution shall not, under federal law, be liable or subject to forfeiture for providing a loan or other financial services to a legitimate marijuana-related business, ABL Advisor reported.
The bill, which is co-sponsored by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, was introduced this month as an amendment to a sweeping reform bill (S 2155) that undoes many of the provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. That measure - sponsored by Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho - passed the Senate last week without the cannabis protections included.
However, Merkley and Murkowski's standalone bill - the SAFE Banking Act - picked up supporters during the process and now has 15 co-sponsors. A House version of the bill has 89.
Among other things the legislation would prohibit a federal banking regulator from:
- Terminating or limiting the deposit insurance or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a legitimate marijuana-related business
- Prohibiting or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering financial services to such a business
- Recommending, incentivizing, or encouraging a depository institution not to offer financial services to an account holder solely because the account holder is affiliated with such a business
- Taking any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan made to a person solely because the person either owns such a business or owns real estate or equipment leased or sold to such a business
Under state law, eight states and the District of Columbia permit adult recreational use of marijuana. Twenty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico allow medical marijuana use.