U.S. House Passes the SAFE Banking Act to Increase Banking Access for Cannabis Businesses

Summary

On September 25, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 321 to 103 (with 90 Republicans voting in favor of the bill), the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (SAFE Banking Act), H.R. 1595. The SAFE Banking Act, among other things, seeks to expand access to banking and financial services for cannabis-related businesses and their service providers, and works to prevent federal bank regulatory agencies from penalizing financial institutions that work with cannabis-related businesses. This article reviews key provisions of the SAFE Banking Act and the likelihood that this legislation will pass in a vote by the Senate.