CLIMB Act
Bill: H.R.8200 | Sponsor: Rep. Carter, Troy (D-LA)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses Act or the CLIMB Act
This bill allows national stock exchanges to list state-licensed cannabis-related businesses on their exchanges. It also prohibits a federal agency from bringing certain civil, criminal, regulatory, or administrative actions against a business or person because they provide assistance or services to a state-licensed cannabis-related business.

To amend any applicable Federal law to permit access to community 
development, small business, minority development, and any other public 
or private financial capital sources for investment in and financing of 
  cannabis-related legitimate businesses, and to amend the Securities 
 Exchange Act of 1934 to create a safe harbor for national securities 
 exchanges to list the securities of issuers that are cannabis-related 
                         legitimate businesses.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Capital Lending and Investment for 
Marijuana Businesses Act'' or the ``CLIMB Act''.

SEC. 2. PERMITTING ACCESS TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, SMALL BUSINESS, 
              MINORITY DEVELOPMENT, AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CAPITAL 
              FOR INVESTMENT IN AND FINANCING OF CANNABIS-RELATED 
              LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES AND THEIR SERVICE PROVIDERS.

    (a) Proscription Against Federal Agency Action.--No agency of the 
Federal Government shall--
            (1) initiate or otherwise support bringing civil, criminal, 
        regulatory or administrative actions that would disqualify any 
        business person or governmental authority from holding or 
        obtaining any charter, license, registration, or official 
        status, from maintaining, applying for or receiving funding, 
        appropriations, grants, contracts, or other forms of monetary 
        or non-monetary assistance from a governmental authority, or 
        from marketing, offering, or selling any security, banking, or 
        insurance or other financial services product, because such 
        business or person--
                    (A) provides business assistance to a cannabis-
                related legitimate business or service provider; or
                    (B) receives cash or other compensation for 
                providing business assistance to a cannabis-related 
                legitimate business or service provider which cash or 
                other compensation is generated from or is proceeds of 
                the business operations of a cannabis-related 
                legitimate business or service provider.
    (b) Definitions.--
            (1) Business assistance.--The term ``business assistance'' 
        means--
                    (A) provision of financial services including but 
                not by way of limitation, commercial banking, deposit-
                taking, trust services, capital raising, lending, 
                brokerage, prime brokerage, securities finance 
                services, investment banking, custody services, credit 
                card services, money transfer services, securities 
                underwriting and investment advisory services;
                    (B) sale of insurance or surety products;
                    (C) providing debt or equity capital and the 
                receipt of dividends, interest, or distributions of 
                that capital;
                    (D) provision or accounting services;
                    (E) sale, leasing, or renting of real estate;
                    (F) provision of equipment, parts, substances or 
                testing services needed to produce marijuana, hemp or 
                extracts therefrom and to comply with the law, rules 
                and regulations for testing in the applicable U.S. 
                State, commonwealth, Washington, DC, Indian Tribe, or 
                U.S. Territory;
                    (G) provision of advertising or marketing services;
                    (H) provision of management consulting services;
                    (I) provision of legal services or compliance 
                services;
                    (J) provision of information technology, software 
                and communications services;
                    (K) provision of packaging, transportation, or 
                other logistics services; and
                    (L) underwriting, dealing, placement or public 
                distribution of securities issued by a cannabis-related 
                legitimate business, including the listing of any such 
                securities on any exchange or trading venue, or any 
                provision of services related to the foregoing.
            (2) Governmental authority.--The term ``governmental 
        authority'' means any Federal, State, municipal, national, 
        local, tribal, or other governmental department, court, 
        commission, board, bureau, agency, or instrumentality or 
        political subdivision thereof, or any entity or officer 
        exercising executive, legislative, or judicial, regulatory or 
        adminis-trative functions of or pertaining to any government or 
        any court, in each case, whether of the United States or a 
        State, territory or possession thereof, a foreign sovereign 
        entity or country or jurisdiction or the District of Columbia.
            (3) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual, a 
        partnership, a corporation, a limited liability company, a 
        business trust, a joint stock company, a trust, an 
        unincorporated association, a joint venture, a governmental 
        authority, or any other entity of whatever nature.

SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR NATIONAL SECURITIES EXCHANGES.

    Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78f) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Safe Harbor for Cannabis-Related Legitimate Businesses and 
Service Providers.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) Cannabis.--The term `cannabis' has the 
                meaning given the term `marihuana' in section 102 of 
                the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).
                    ``(B) Cannabis product.--The term `cannabis 
                product' means any article that contains cannabis, 
                including an article that is a concentrate, an edible, 
                a tincture, a cannabis-infused product, or a topical.
                    ``(C) Cannabis-related legitimate business.--The 
                term `cannabis-related legitimate business' means an 
                issuer that--
                            ``(i) initiates, engages, or participates 
                        in any business or organized activity that 
                        involves cannabis or cannabis products, 
                        including cultivating, warehousing, producing, 
                        manufacturing, processing, selling, 
                        transporting, displaying, dispensing, 
                        distributing, or purchasing cannabis or 
                        cannabis products; and
                            ``(ii) engages in the activity described in 
                        clause (i) pursuant to a law established by a 
                        State or a political subdivision of a State, as 
                        determined by that State or political 
                        subdivision.
                    ``(D) Market participant.--The term `market 
                participant' means any broker dealer, underwriter, 
                clearing agency or clearinghouse, securities 
                depository, credit rating agency, alternative trading 
                system, investment adviser, self-regulatory 
                organization, or transfer agent.
                    ``(E) Service provider.--The term `service 
                provider' means--
                            ``(i) an issuer that--
                                    ``(I) sells or otherwise provides 
                                goods or services to a cannabis-related 
                                legitimate business; or
                                    ``(II) provides any business 
                                service relating to cannabis or 
                                cannabis product, including without 
                                limitation--
                                            ``(aa) legal, compliance, 
                                        or accounting services;
                                            ``(bb) sale, leasing, or 
                                        renting of real estate or 
                                        equipment;
                                            ``(cc) provision of parts, 
                                        substances, or testing services 
                                        needed to produce marijuana, 
                                        hemp, or extracts therefrom and 
                                        to comply with the law, rules, 
                                        and regulations for testing in 
                                        the applicable U.S. State, 
                                        commonwealth, Washington, DC, 
                                        Indian Tribe, or U.S. 
                                        Territory;
                                            ``(dd) advertising or 
                                        marketing services;
                                            ``(ee) management 
                                        consulting services;
                                            ``(ff) information 
                                        technology, software, and 
                                        communications services; and
                                            ``(gg) packaging, 
                                        transportation, or other 
                                        logistics services; and
                            ``(ii) is not a cannabis-related legitimate 
                        business.
                    ``(F) State.--The term `State' means each of the 
                several States, the District of Columbia, the 
                Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the 
                territories and possessions of the United States.
            ``(2) Safe harbor.--Notwithstanding section 32 of this Act, 
        the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), or any 
        other Federal law, it shall not be unlawful for a national 
        securities exchange registered pursuant to subsection (a) or 
        any market participant to have listed, list, or intend to list, 
        or permits the trading, or facilitates the offering, listing, 
        or trading on a national securities exchange, of the securities 
        of a cannabis-related legitimate business or a service 
        provider.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendment made in section 2 shall take effect 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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