Members of the US House and Senate are sponsoring The Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act of 2015 to permit financial institutions to engage in business relationships with the marijuana industry. In November, the bill received support from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid who signed on as a cosponsor of the bill. The House version of the bill is HR 2076. The Senate version is S. 1726.
Presently, most major financial institutions refuse to provide services to state-compliant operators in the marijuana industry out of fear of federal prosecution. The Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act of 2015 provides “a safe harbor for depository institutions providing financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business insofar as it prohibits a federal banking regulator from: (1) terminating or limiting the deposit or share insurance of a depository institution solely because it provides financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business; or (2) prohibiting, penalizing, or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering such services.”
In addition, the measure provides legal protections to both financial institutions and their employees. The Act states: “Immunity from federal criminal prosecution or investigation is granted, subject to certain conditions, to a depository institution that provides financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business in a state or one of its political subdivisions that allows the cultivation, production, manufacture, sale, transportation, display, dispensing, distribution, or purchase of marijuana. Neither the depository institution nor its officers, directors, nor employees may be held liable under federal law or regulation solely for providing such financial services or further investing income derived from those services.”
No industry can operate safely, transparently or effectively without access to banks or other financial institutions. Members of Congress ought to change federal policy so that this growing number of state-compliant businesses, and their consumers, may operate in a manner that is similar to other legal commercial entities.
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National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws – Advocacy Campaigns
