In a closely-watched Colorado case that could set a precedent for financial institutions seeking to serve marijuana retailers, a judge has encouraged both parties to consider a mellow resolution.
In a court hearing Monday, District Judge R. Brooke Jackson suggested the defendant, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and plaintiff, Fourth Corner Credit Union in Denver, should consider a lawful compromise, the Los Angeles Times
At this point, such an outcome seems unlikely. Fourth Corner, which received a state charter in November 2014, waited for nearly nine months months after applying for a master account, only to be rejected by the Kansas City Fed.
The credit union then sued the local Fed branch, as well as NCUA, which denied it access to share deposit insurance.
Fourth Corner's chief executive Deirdra O'Gorman told Credit Union Journal she believes her institution should be granted access to the federal system by virtue of its state charter. "All we are asking for is to be able to play by the same rules that other financial institutions are afforded," she said in an email.
In the hearing, Jackson expressed some sympathy towards Fourth Corner's stance, qualifying federal guidance on pot industry banking as "nothingburgers" and "namby pamby," according to LA Times.
But he also grilled Fourth Corner attorney Mark Mason on the legal standing of the weed industry.
"You just happen to think that marijuana is a better illegal thing to manufacture than methamphetamine," he said, according to LA Times.
Jackson said he would issue a written decision in the coming days, the article noted.
