Regulation

The 2020 elections buoyed hopes that Congress would finally make it easier for financial institutions to serve cannabis businesses. But Democrats’ push to decriminalize marijuana — a nonstarter for most Republicans — threatens the more targeted effort.

The legislation, led by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., would qualify many farmers, ranchers and self-employed Americans for more Paycheck Protection Program funds.

If passed, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act introduced last week could spur development of 2 million rental units for low- and moderate-income households over the next decade.

The SAFE Banking Act would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing banks and other depository institutions for providing banking services to cannabis businesses. It passed Monday night on a 321-101 bipartisan vote.

Key legislation to protect banks and credit unions serving the legal marijuana industry looks set to move forward in the House this week.

The Michigan lender agreed in 2012 to pay $133 million to resolve civil fraud charges tied to government-backed mortgages. But the deal with the Justice Department came with a catch that eventually allowed Flagstar to pay far less.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., has introduced legislation to make it easier for new community banks to open in areas that are underserved by the banking system.

Transaction fraud and money laundering are typically siloed areas within banks, but both require a keen eye to finding the right patterns.

Two people were charged with using a New York state employees credit union to process more than $1 billion in suspect financial transactions while failing to file suspicious activity reports or maintain adequate anti-money-laundering controls.

As Fincen implements an anti-money-laundering law requiring businesses to add their beneficial owners to a new database, bankers worry they'll still be on the hook to provide that information on behalf of customers for some time.