On September 25, 2019, the US House of Representatives passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (or the SAFE Banking Act). The bill, H.R. 1595, which was first introduced by Congressman Ed Perlmutter on March 7, 2019, generally prohibits US banking regulators from penalizing banks for providing financial services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and other cannabis-related service providers. The purpose behind the Act is to grant US cannabis companies operating and abiding lawfully under state laws access to the banking system. Allowing state-authorized cannabis companies access to financial institutions is something that is critically important for such companies to grow and to operate effectively and efficiently.

Norton Rose Fulbright has prepared a legal update analyzing the bill and its provisions: “From cash only to the US banking system: US House of Representatives passes SAFE Banking Act of 2019 .”

The authors are:

Kevin J. Harnisch, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, Washington, DC

Mike Keeley, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, Dallas, TX

Ilana Beth Sinkin, Senior Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright, Washington, DC

Regulation Tomorrow blog posts on other cannabis topics may be found here, here and here.