Cannabis Banking Update
RLR Management Consulting, Inc.
With the Democrat’s control of Congress and the White House, it appears that we may be closer to some sort of legislation regarding banking cannabis. The interesting notion is that it may not be the SAFE Banking Act. It may be the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or MORE Act, which would remove marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. By removing marijuana from the list of scheduled substances, financial institutions would not have the legal issues working with cannabis businesses because there would be no violation of federal law. That said, we are still in a wait and see period, and the SAFE Banking Act may still be the answer!
In a recent American Banker article, it appears (because we do not know for sure) that the number of financial institutions banking cannabis was declining in 2020. Probably makes sense, as Financial Institution’s priorities turned to dealing with COVID and the PPP loans and forgiveness. It will be interesting to watch 2021 and see what happens!