Legislation to open banking services to cannabis businesses has become a casualty—at least for now—of the financial turmoil brought on by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown is postponing hearings on the bipartisan SAFE Banking Act so his panel can focus instead on the congressional response to the bank failures.
“I want to do SAFE Banking,” Brown said, adding that he had discussed the issue with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “But this is clearly more important. It doesn’t mean long-term delay, but it means delays a couple of weeks.”
The decision by Brown, an Ohio Democrat, is the latest setback for advocates of the bill, which would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing banks and other depository institutions for providing banking services to cannabis businesses.
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