Newsroom

July 24, 2015

Senate Appropriations OKs giving legal pot businesses access to banking services

An amendment by Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., to ensure that legal marijuana businesses have access to banking services was approved last Thursday as part of the Senate Appropriations Committee's financial services appropriations bill.

Merkley's amendment is similar to a bipartisan bill, S. 1726, that he introduced two weeks ago. It would prevent federal regulators from prohibiting, penalizing or discouraging a financial institution from providing financial services to a legitimate, state-sanctioned and regulated marijuana business.

Oregon is one of several states that has legalized medicinal or recreational use of marijuana, and Merkley said that legitimate businesses in those states have been denied access to the banking system because financial institutions can be sanctioned or shut down under federal law.

"In both the medicinal world and recreational world, they are rarely able to be served by our banks because of the federal law and that results in a huge cash economy that is an invitation to crime and malfeasance," Merkley said.

Last year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued guidance for financial institutions serving marijuana businesses but also said it's a complicated issue best addressed by legislation.

While FinCEN's guidance was meant to mitigate the dangers associated with conducting an all-cash business, NAFCU noted at the time that it did not address the legal issue of whether an institution is violating federal law in providing services to a marijuana business.