Another financial association is imploring Senate leadership to pass a bipartisan bill to safeguard banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses. The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which represents about 50,000 community banks throughout the country, sent a letter to key senators on Thursday, urging the adoption of cannabis banking reform language in a large-scale manufacturing bill that’s headed to a bicameral conference committee. The House did include the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in its version of the AMERICA Competes Act, but it was stripped in the Senate. Advocates and stakeholders have been putting pressure on the Senate to accede to the House and reinsert the language in the final package that’s sent to the president’s desk. The SAFE Banking Act “would create a safe harbor from federal sanctions for financial institutions that serve cannabis-related businesses (CRBs), as well as the numerous ancillary businesses that serve them, in states and other jurisdictions where cannabis is legal,” ICBA said in the new letter. ICBA called on Senate leaders to include ICBA-advocated legislation to establish a cannabis banking safe harbor in the America COMPETES Act conference report.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 05/09/2022 16:11:00