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Democratic legislators have sent a proposal to the US Senate in order to urgently request the approval of the SAFE Banking Act , in order to fix the banking problem suffered by the cannabis industry with the restrictions imposed by the regular banking system.
With the approval by the Senate of this Act to make it possible to bank the American cannabis industry, the doors are opened to that all companies that are dedicated to this area can freely use all banking services and also market their shares in the main stock exchanges of the country.
In specific terms, also is a legislation that would protect banking institutions from any liability or blocking action by the federal government for opening accounts, providing loans or give credit to companies that are dedicated to the production and commercialization of cannabis.
This bill was presented in 2019 to fix the banking problem that the industry presented, the House of Representatives approved it in September of the same year, becoming thus in the first independent measure approved by a full House of Congress, in favor of the cannabis business.
All this generated a high enthusiasm among the promoters of this industry, especially encouraged much that the issue be discussed in the Senate, however, this never happened thanks to the blockade immediately made by the then Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
The bill remained until there, until in March of this 2021 was again introduced , where it continues to insist that the only int The action is to ensure that the money that comes from cannabis companies is not considered as “coming from illicit activities”. It’s very simple, the SAFE Act is for federal banking regulators not to take action against banks that work with cannabis companies.
Another problem that this industry has is that they cannot be listed on the main stock exchanges in the country, but if they have been able to quote on the Toronto Stock Exchange (in Canada), for example.
One of the reasons that cannabis companies argue for requesting bankarization is that this would open the way for them to use the profits in programs that promote social equity, specifically aimed at colleges and universities.
With the SAFE Law for the banking of the cannabis industry, a further step is taken towards the decriminalization, at the federal level, of the use of this plant or vice versa. Well, once decriminalized, regulations also decrease.
Tax deductions, bank accounts and obtaining loans are the main drawbacks presented by companies engaged in the cannabis business in the United States.
It is estimated that the legal cannabis industry in the United States sold in 2020 $ 21,600 millions of dollars. The state of California alone sold, in cannabis flowers and other cannabis products and accessories, $ 4, 400 million Dollars. For its part, Colorado had a report of $ 2, 100 million dollars in sales for 2020.
There are still several legislators who express their rejection of this law, for different reasons, Among them are “the amount of money, in cash, that would be produced”, which, although it would be legal, is not very bankable.