A bipartisan coalition of representatives reintroduced The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (“SAFE Banking Act”) on Thursday, March 18, 2021. The SAFE Banking Act was previously passed by the House of Representatives in 2019, and twice in 2020, but never received a vote in the Senate.
The SAFE Banking Act would remove federal restrictions currently preventing banks from servicing cannabis-related businesses operating under state law. The bill would prevent federal regulators from terminating or limiting a bank’s access to deposit insurance for servicing the cannabis industry, taking adverse action against a bank for servicing the cannabis industry, discouraging a bank from servicing the cannabis industry, or taking adverse action on a loan made to a business within the cannabis industry. The bill also protects banks from criminal, civil, or administrative forfeiture of any legal interest they may have in a cannabis-related business as part of a loan or financial service.
We will continue to monitor the SAFE Banking Act as it moves through Congress.