II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1152 

To create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services 

to cannabis-related businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2017 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mr. BENNET, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To create protections for depository institutions that provide 

financial services to cannabis-related businesses, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure and Fair En5 forcement Banking Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Banking Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR FOR DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS. 

7 A Federal banking regulator may not— 

8 (1) terminate or limit the deposit insur9 ance or share insurance of a depository institumstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

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1 tion under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act 

2 (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) or the Federal Credit 

3 Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) solely be4 cause the depository institution provides or has 

5 provided financial services to a cannabis-related 

6 legitimate business; 

7 (2) prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discour8 age a depository institution from providing fi9 nancial services to a cannabis-related legitimate 

10 business or to a State or Indian tribe that exer11 cises jurisdiction over cannabis-related legiti12 mate businesses; 

13 (3) recommend, incentivize, or encourage a 

14 depository institution not to offer financial serv15 ices to the owner, operator, or an individual 

16 that is an account holder of a cannabis-related 

17 legitimate business, or downgrade or cancel fi18 nancial services offered to an account holder of 

19 a cannabis-related legitimate business solely be20 cause— 

21 (A) the account holder later becomes 

22 a cannabis-related legitimate business; or 

23 (B) the depository institution was not 

24 aware that the account holder is the owner 

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1 or operator of a cannabis-related legitimate 

2 business; and 

3 (4) take any adverse or corrective super4 visory action on a loan to an owner or operator 

5 of— 

6 (A) a cannabis-related legitimate busi7 ness solely because the business owner or 

8 operator is a cannabis-related business 

9 without express statutory authority, as in 

10 effect on the day before the date of enact11 ment of this Act; or 

12 (B) real estate or equipment that is 

13 leased or sold to a cannabis-related legiti14 mate business solely because the owner or 

15 operator of the real estate or equipment 

16 leased or sold the equipment or real estate 

17 to a cannabis-related legitimate business. 

18 SEC. 3. PROTECTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In a State, political subdivision of 

20 a State, or Indian country that allows the cultivation, pro21 duction, manufacturing, transportation, display, dis22 pensing, distribution, sale, or purchase of cannabis pursu23 ant to a law (including regulations) of the State, political 

24 subdivision of the State, or the Indian tribe that has juris25 diction over the Indian country, as applicable, a depository 

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1 institution and the officers, director, and employees of the 

2 depository institution that provides financial services to a 

3 cannabis-related legitimate business may not be held liable 

4 pursuant to any Federal law (including regulations)— 

5 (1) solely for providing the financial services 

6 pursuant to the law (including regulations) of the 

7 State, political subdivision of the State, or Indian 

8 tribe; or 

9 (2) for further investing any income derived 

10 from the financial services. 

11 (b) FORFEITURE.—A depository institution that has 

12 a legal interest in the collateral for a loan made to an 

13 owner or operator of a cannabis-related legitimate busi14 ness, or to an owner or operator of real estate or equip15 ment that is leased or sold to a cannabis-related legitimate 

16 business, shall not be subject to criminal, civil, or adminis17 trative forfeiture of that legal interest pursuant to any 

18 Federal law for providing the loan or other financial serv19 ices solely because the collateral is owned by a cannabis20 related business. 

21 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

22 Nothing in this Act shall require a depository institu23 tion to provide financial services to a cannabis-related le24 gitimate business. 

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1 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 

2 REPORTS. 

3 Section 5318(g) of title 31, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR CANNABIS-RELATED

6 BUSINESSES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

8 ‘‘(i) the term ‘cannabis’ has the mean9 ing given the term ‘marihuana’ in section 

10 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

11 U.S.C. 802); 

12 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘cannabis-related legiti13 mate business’ has the meaning given the 

14 term in section 6 of the SAFE Banking 

15 Act; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘financial service’ 

17 means a financial product or service, as de18 fined in section 1002 of the Dodd-Frank 

19 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec20 tion Act (12 U.S.C. 5481); 

21 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘Indian country’ has 

22 the meaning given the term in section 

23 1151 of title 18; and 

24 ‘‘(v) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 102 of 

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1 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List 

2 Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 

3 ‘‘(B) REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS TRANS4 ACTIONS.—A financial institution or any direc5 tor, officer, employee, or agent of a financial in6 stitution that reports a suspicious activity re7 lated to a transaction by a cannabis-related le8 gitimate business shall comply with appropriate 

9 guidance issued by the Financial Crimes En10 forcement Network. The Secretary shall ensure 

11 that the guidance is consistent with the purpose 

12 and intent of the SAFE Banking Act and does 

13 not inhibit the provision of financial services to 

14 a cannabis-related legitimate business in a 

15 State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian 

16 country that has allowed the cultivation, pro17 duction, manufacturing, transportation, display, 

18 dispensing, distribution, sale, or purchase of 

19 cannabis, or any other conduct relating to can20 nabis, pursuant to law or regulation of the 

21 State, the political subdivision of the State, or 

22 Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over the In23 dian country.’’. 

24 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 

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1 (1) CANNABIS.—The term ‘‘cannabis’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term ‘‘marihuana’’ in section 102 

3 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 

4 (2) CANNABIS PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘cannabis 

5 product’’ means any article which contains cannabis, 

6 including an article which is a concentrate, an edi7 ble, a tincture, a cannabis-infused product, or a top8 ical. 

9 (3) CANNABIS-RELATED LEGITIMATE BUSI10 NESS.—The term ‘‘cannabis-related legitimate busi11 ness’’ means a manufacturer, producer, or any per12 son or company that— 

13 (A) engages in any activity described in 

14 subparagraph (B) pursuant to a law established 

15 by a State or a political subdivision of a State; 

16 and 

17 (B)(i) participates in any business or orga18 nized activity that involves handling cannabis or 

19 cannabis products, including cultivating, pro20 ducing, manufacturing, selling, transporting, 

21 displaying, dispensing, distributing, or pur22 chasing cannabis or cannabis products; or 

23 (ii) provides— 

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1 (I) any financial service, including re2 tirement plans or exchange traded funds, 

3 relating to cannabis; or 

4 (II) any business services, including 

5 the sale or lease of real or any other prop6 erty, legal or other licensed services, or any 

7 other ancillary service, relating to can8 nabis. 

9 (4) COMPANY.—The term ‘‘company’’ means a 

10 partnership, corporation, association, (incorporated 

11 or unincorporated), trust, estate, cooperative organi12 zation, State, or any other entity. 

13 (5) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘de14 pository institution’’ means— 

15 (A) a depository institution as defined in 

16 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

17 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)); 

18 (B) a Federal credit union as defined in 

19 section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 

20 (12 U.S.C. 1752); or 

21 (C) a State credit union as defined in sec22 tion 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 

23 U.S.C. 1752). 

24 (6) FEDERAL BANKING REGULATOR.—The 

25 term ‘‘Federal banking regulator’’ means each of the 

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1 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 

2 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

3 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of 

4 the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit 

5 Union Administration, or any Federal agency or de6 partment that regulates banking or financial serv7 ices, as determined by the Secretary of the Treas8 ury. 

9 (7) FINANCIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘financial 

10 service’’ means a financial product or service, as de11 fined in section 1002 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

12 Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 

13 5481). 

14 (8) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun15 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 

16 of title 18, United States Code. 

17 (9) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

18 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

19 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 

20 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 

21 (10) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac22 turer’’ means a person or company who manufac23 tures, compounds, converts, processes, prepares, or 

24 packages cannabis or cannabis products. 

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1 (11) PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘producer’’ means 

2 a person or company who plants, cultivates, har3 vests, or in any way facilitates the natural growth of 

4 cannabis. 

5 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

6 the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

7 Rico, any territory or possession of the United 

8 States. 

Æ 

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