Marijuana banking

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tapped executive compensation and cannabis banking bills as bipartisan priorities that could see movement in the Senate in the "weeks and months ahead."

The new text of the cannabis banking bill includes language that has "papered over" an issue about Operation Choke Point.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2023, introduced in both the House and Senate would allow regulated banks to work with state-legal cannabis companies.

Vermont State Employees Credit Union is attracting new cannabis clients so rapidly that it had to press the pause button to add staff. Another New England lender, Needham Bank, is building its own pot banking business through acquisition.

The Biden administration is poised to put its stamp on the banking regulatory landscape, but there are few slam-dunk solutions that will satisfy both the industry and a vocal Democratic base.

Colorado Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter's pot banking bill would create legal certainty for banks to do business with the legal cannabis industry and reduce the industry’s reliance on cash. 

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the bill’s chief sponsor, said the decision would allow people to “continue to be killed” as cannabis companies’ cash is targeted by crime.

Last reelected by a more than 21-point margin, Ed Perlmutter is now 26th House Democrat to leave Congress rather than endure the 2022 midterms.

Banking industry advocates are urging the Senate to follow the House's lead and pass the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision that includes a safe harbor for financial institutions working with cannabis firms.

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.