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The House Financial Services Committee Thursday advanced to the full House a bill designed to provide a safe harbor for credit unions and other lenders that serve marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) in states that have legalized the drug. The bill advanced on a 45-15 vote.

NAFCU this week also released an updated issue brief on marijuana banking, which provides credit unions with a comprehensive view of the compliance concerns they may face should they serve MRBs. The issue brief will be updated by NAFCU as discussions progress on Capitol Hill.

The SAFE Banking Act, H.R. 1595, was introduced by House Financial Services Committee members Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Denny Heck, D-Wash., Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and has almost 150 cosponsors. Ahead of the committee's markup, NAFCU outlined its support for Congress examining what steps can be taken to provide greater clarity and legal certainty for credit unions operating in the MRB space.

Prior to committee passage, three amendments were adopted:

1. Safe harbor applicability: This amendment states that a federal banking regulator may not take any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan made to a cannabis-related legitimate business including institutions applying for depository institution charters.
2. Safe harbor extension: This amendment extends the bill's safe harbor to insurers.
3. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study: This amendment requires that, no later than two years after the act is enacted, a study be conducted on the effectiveness of reports on suspicious transactions filed.

NAFCU has additional resources available on the marijuana banking issue, including a pros and cons resource, a Compliance Blog post, and articles in its Compliance Monitor and bimonthly magazine.