A new bill introduced to the House by Representatives Troy A. Carter Sr. from Louisiana and Guy Reschenthaler from Pennsylvania would allow cannabis businesses to access lending services in which they’ve been shut out of for decades. Along with this, public trading would be in the cards.
The bill is called the CLIMB Act, or Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses Act. Although at first it seems similar to the SAFE Act that would allow banks to work with cannabis businesses without fear of federal incrimination, this CLIMB Act goes much further in the kinds of businesses that it would allow to step into the cannabis realm.
Here’s a list of assistance that would be possible:
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providing a financial product or service;
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selling insurance or surety products;
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providing debt or equity capital or receiving dividends, interest or distributions of that capital;
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providing accounting services;
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the sale, lease or rental of real estate;
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providing equipment, parts, substances or testing services needed to produce cannabis in compliance with the laws and regulations in the applicable state;
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providing advertising or marketing services;
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providing management consulting services;
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providing legal services or compliance services;
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providing information technology, software or communications services;
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provision of packaging, transportation or other logistics services; and
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underwriting, dealing, placement or public distribution of securities issued by a cannabis-related legitimate business, including the listing of any such securities on any exchange or trading venue, or any provision of services related to the foregoing.
“The CLIMB Act will help unleash the full potential of the American cannabis industry. Right now, Canadian cannabis companies can ring the bell at U.S. stock markets and access American capital markets while domestic cannabis businesses are largely locked out of even the most basic financial services. That’s not a level playing field. The CLIMB Act fixes this by ensuring American cannabis businesses, workers and investors have the same opportunities and access to financial services as foreign competitors, said Saphira Galoob from the US Cannabis Roundtable.
Schedule III wouldn’t allow cannabis businesses this much protection, so the bill has huge potential with or without a change to marijuana’s legality.
Read the original story at Cannabis Business Times.
