I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4711 

To create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services 

to industrial hemp legitimate businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 21, 2017 

Mr. BARR (for himself, Mr. HIMES, and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To create protections for depository institutions that provide 

financial services to industrial hemp legitimate 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 ‘‘Industrial Hemp 

5 Banking Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SECURE AND FAIR ENFORCEMENT OF THE BANK7 ING LAWS. 

8 (a) SAFE HARBOR FOR DEPOSITORY INSTITU9 TIONS.—A Federal banking regulator may not— 


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1 (1) terminate or limit the deposit insur2 ance or share insurance of a depository institu3 tion under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act 

4 (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) or the Federal Credit 

5 Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) solely be6 cause the depository institution provides or has 

7 provided financial services to an industrial 

8 hemp legitimate business; 

9 (2) prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discour10 age a depository institution from providing fi11 nancial services to an industrial hemp legiti12 mate business or to a State or political subdivi13 sion of a State that exercises jurisdiction over 

14 industrial hemp legitimate businesses; 

15 (3) recommend, incentivize, or encourage a 

16 depository institution not to offer financial serv17 ices to an account holder, or to downgrade or 

18 cancel the financial services offered to an ac19 count holder solely because— 

20 (A) the account holder is the owner, 

21 operator, or employee of an industrial 

22 hemp legitimate business; 

23 (B) the account holder later becomes 

24 an owner or operator of an industrial hemp 

25 legitimate business; or 


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1 (C) the depository institution was not 

2 aware that the account holder is the owner 

3 or operator of an industrial hemp legiti4 mate business; and 

5 (4) take any adverse or corrective super6 visory action on a loan made to an owner or op7 erator of— 

8 (A) an industrial hemp legitimate 

9 business, solely because the owner or oper10 ator owns or operates an industrial hemp 

11 legitimate business; or 

12 (B) real estate or equipment that is 

13 leased to an industrial hemp legitimate 

14 business, solely because the owner or oper15 ator of the real estate or equipment leased 

16 the equipment or real estate to an indus17 trial hemp legitimate business. 

18 (b) PROTECTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a State or a political sub20 division of a State that allows for industrial hemp le21 gitimate businesses, a depository institution that 

22 provides financial services to an industrial hemp le23 gitimate business, and the officers, directors, and 

24 employees of that depository institution may not be 


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1 held liable pursuant to any Federal law or regula2 tion— 

3 (A) solely for providing such financial serv4 ices pursuant to the law or regulation of such 

5 State or political subdivision; or 

6 (B) for further investing any income de7 rived from such financial services. 

8 (2) FORFEITURE.—A depository institution 

9 that has a legal interest in the collateral for a loan 

10 or another financial service provided to an owner or 

11 operator of an industrial hemp legitimate business, 

12 or to an owner or operator of real estate or equip13 ment that is leased or sold to an industrial hemp le14 gitimate business, shall not be subject to criminal, 

15 civil, or administrative forfeiture of that legal inter16 est pursuant to any Federal law for providing such 

17 loan or other financial service. 

18 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall require a depository institution to provide finan20 cial services to an industrial hemp legitimate business. 

21 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING SUSPICIOUS ACTIV22 ITY REPORTS.—Section 5318(g) of title 31, United States 

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS FOR INDUSTRIAL HEMP

25 LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES.—A financial institution or 


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1 any director, officer, employee, or agent of a finan2 cial institution that reports a suspicious transaction 

3 pursuant to this subsection and the reason for the 

4 report relates to an industrial hemp legitimate busi5 ness (as defined in section 2 of the Industrial Hemp 

6 Banking Act), the report shall comply with appro7 priate guidance issued by the Financial Crimes En8 forcement Network. The Secretary shall ensure that 

9 the guidance is consistent with the purpose and in10 tent of the Industrial Hemp Banking Act and does 

11 not inhibit the provision of financial services to an 

12 industrial hemp legitimate business in a State or po13 litical subdivision of a State that allows for indus14 trial hemp legitimate businesses.’’. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘de17 pository institution’’ means— 

18 (A) a depository institution as defined in 

19 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

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

21 (B) a Federal credit union as defined in 

22 section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 

23 (12 U.S.C. 1752); or 


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1 (C) a State credit union as defined in sec2 tion 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 

3 U.S.C. 1752). 

4 (2) FEDERAL BANKING REGULATOR.—The 

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

6 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 

7 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

8 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of 

9 the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit 

10 Union Administration, or any Federal agency or de11 partment that regulates banking or financial serv12 ices, as determined by the Secretary of the Treas13 ury. 

14 (3) FINANCIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘financial 

15 service’’ means a financial product or service as de16 fined in section 1002 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

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

18 5481). 

19 (4) INDUSTRIAL HEMP LEGITIMATE BUSI20 NESS.—The term ‘‘industrial hemp legitimate busi21 ness’’ means— 

22 (A) an institution of higher education (as 

23 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

24 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) or a State de25 partment of agriculture that carries out an agVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Dec 23, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4711.IH H4711

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1 ricultural pilot program or other agricultural or 

2 academic research under which such institution 

3 of higher education or State department of ag4 riculture, either itself or through a third 

5 party— 

6 (i) grows or cultivates industrial hemp 

7 for purposes of research, and such re8 search actually occurs; and 

9 (ii) such growing or cultivation is car10 ried out pursuant to the laws of the State 

11 in which such institution of higher edu12 cation or State department of agriculture 

13 is located; 

14 (B) a third party that produces, manufac15 tures, sells, purchases, or transports industrial 

16 hemp pursuant to, or otherwise participates in, 

17 a program or research described under subpara18 graph (A); and 

19 (C) a person that engages in commerce 

20 with industrial hemp products that are exempt21 ed from the definition of a controlled substance 

22 under the Controlled Substances Act. 

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

24 the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 


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1 Rico, and any territory or possession of the United 

2 States. 

3 (6) AGRICULTURAL ACT OF 2014 DEFINI4 TIONS.—The terms ‘‘agricultural pilot program’’, 

5 ‘‘industrial hemp’’, and ‘‘State department of agri6 culture’’ have the meanings given those terms, re7 spectively, under section 7606(b) of the Agricultural 

8 Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 5940(b)). 

Æ 


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