Last Friday President Trump said that if it passed Congress, he'd likely sign a bill by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) that would enable banks and credit unions to do business with cannabis-related companies in states where marijuana is legal. Warren, one of the harshest critics of Trump and the banking industry, co-sponsored the legislation with Cory Gardner, R-Colo. The bill would exempt persons complying with state marijuana laws from the federal pot prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act. The Strengthening of the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act of 2018 (S. 3032) would provide financial institutions accepting deposits from, extending credit or providing payment services to an individual or business engaged in legal marijuana-related commerce with legal protections if they are compliant with all other applicable laws and regulations. It also clarifies that compliant financial transactions do not constitute trafficking, or result in proceeds of an unlawful transaction;The bill likely won’t pass the current Republican-controlled Congress, despite the fact that it only affects states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. Meanwhile, two similar bills have been introduced in the Senate:
- The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2017 (H.R. 2215), introduced by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Denny Heck (D-Wash.). It is narrowly targeted to provide financial institutions accepting deposits from, extending credit or providing payment services to an individual, or business engaged in legal marijuana-related commerce with a safe harbor, if it is compliant with all other applicable laws and regulations. It also provides safe harbor to credit unions and their employees who are not aware if their members or customers are involved in such businesses; and
- A Senate SAFE Banking Act (S. 1152), introduced by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). S. 1152 specifies that 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. It also prohibits 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; or
- 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.
CUNA wrote letters of support to the Senate for all 3 of the above bills. Read more details on them in American Banker and CUNA News.
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