House Marijuana Banking Sponsors Urge Crapo to Focus on Banking Issues
CUNA and the American Bankers Association have endorsed the legislation, while NAFCU has not.
House sponsors of marijuana banking legislation have asked Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to focus on financial services issues facing cannabis-based business and not on broader issues.
“By bringing businesses out of the shadows and into the well-regulated banking system, our legislation will improve transparency and accountability, and help law enforcement root out illegal transactions to prevent tax evasion, money laundering and other white-collar crime,” the primary sponsors of the legislation, including Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Denny Heck (D-Wash.) wrote in their letter.
The House has passed legislation, known as the SAFE Banking Act, that would provide credit unions, banks and other financial firms with a safe harbor if they provide services to cannabis-related businesses.
CUNA and the American Bankers Association have endorsed the legislation, while NAFCU has not.
Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, financial institutions risk being sanctioned by their federal regulator if they do business with such companies even in states where cannabis is legal.
Crapo initially said he would consider a variation of the House bill, but late last year, he sent a lengthy letter to stakeholders in which he asked a series of health and other questions about marijuana. Some questions dealt with keeping “bad actors” out of the cannabis business.
The House members said the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has developed an important framework for depository institutions that choose to do business with marijuana businesses.
They said like Crapo, many of the 321 House members who support the banking legislation, oppose the legalization of marijuana, adding that their bill “is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and aligning federal banking laws with the decisions states are already making regarding cannabis.”
In a separate letter to Crapo, more than 30 groups, including the National Cannabis Industry Association and the Cannabis Trade Federation, also asked the chairman to focus on financial services issues.
“Without banking services, U.S. businesses will continue to operate in a cash environment that endangers employees and the public,” they wrote.