SAFER Act vs SAFE Act

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Question:

I’m so confused! I keep hearing about the “SAFER Banking Act”. How is that different from the “SAFE Act” from several years ago? Is it being updated?

Answer:

For two laws with such similar names, they couldn’t be any more different.

The Secure And Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 is such a mouthful that everyone just calls it the “SAFE Act”. It is solely concerned with MLOs (Mortgage Loan Originators) being licensed / registered with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (the NMLSR). It is a lending-only rule.

In contrast, the SAFER Act is proposed legislation the has yet to pass Congress. It presently stands for the “Secure And Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act”, and it is all about cannabis banking protections. Marijuana is still Federally illegal, even as individual States legalize it in some form or other. Financial institutions are left in the middle, and this bipartisan law would provide meaningful protections for banking cannabis (even while it remains a Schedule 1 Drug). However, it has not gone anywhere yet.

This is important information to know if your bank is thinking about entering the world of cannabis banking. There is a lot of money to be made, but do you know what it would take to run a compliant cannabis banking program?! It is considerable. Tune into the upcoming webinar “Top 10 Cs of Cannabis Compliance” on February 21, 2024 to learn more!