Marijuana industry

A state-backed bank would not be financially feasible because capital requirements would be too high and it likely wouldn’t return profits to the state for at least 30 years, consultants concluded.

As more states permit medical or recreational use, and legal uncertainty persists at the federal level, CUs' decision whether to do business with marijuana firms is trickier than ever.

As Congress races to fund the government, a criminal justice reform bill could also include the STATES Act, which would provide safe harbor for credit unions serving the legal marijuana industry.

The Anchorage-based institution said its decision to enter the pot banking space was driven partly by public-safety concerns in a cash-based industry.

During his time as U.S. attorney general, Jeff Sessions was an outspoken opponent of the legalization of cannabis sales. Now that Sessions has resigned, legal marijuana is poised to become a growth industry.

The STATES Act allows the industry to resolve conflicts between state and federal laws by granting legitimate cannabis companies access to the financial system in marijuana-legalized states, writes Heather Peterson Altepeter, CEO of the National Merchants Association.

The $506 million-asset GFA Federal Credit Union says it will begin accepting clients in the recreational marijuana business, making it the first Massachusetts financial institution to do so.

Many financial institutions are unaware that they're banking marijuana-related businesses, pot bankers and regtech experts say.

Aurora Cannabis in Edmonton, Alberta, said it recently agreed to a $150M term loan and a $50M line of credit from Bank of Montreal, the largest traditional bank investment into the marijuana industry to date.

Despite bipartisan support, the latest congressional effort to enable the legal marijuana industry's access to the banking system still faces plenty of roadblocks.

In a break with his own Justice Department, President Trump suggested Friday he would sign a bill co-authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren to protect financial institutions that help legal marijuana businesses.

The bipartisan legislation would enable business in legal-marijuana states to access banking services, removing a key hurdle for a fast-growing industry.

California lawmakers have voted to authorize the establishment of state-chartered banks for the limited purpose of serving the marijuana industry.

One credit union analyst said CUs that choose to stay away from legal marijuana banking could be inhibiting their own potential for growth.

The timing is right for Congress to act sooner rather than later, defining what Is legal and establishing regulations, writes Cathy Beardsley, president and CEO of Segpay.

With the state only months away from allowing the sale of pot for recreational use, its top cannabis regulator is urging policymakers to consider creating a public bank to provide services to growers and dispensaries that might otherwise have nowhere else to bank.

Retracting an Obama administration policy that shielded banks servicing marijuana companies threatens financial firms and makes the pot industry too reliant on cash.

Retracting an Obama administration policy that shielded banks servicing marijuana companies threatens financial firms and makes the pot industry too reliant on cash.

Financial institutions are facing considerable uncertainty following the Department of Justice’s decision to rescind Obama-era guidance for the legal marijuana business, but there are steps they can take to reduce their risks.

The Maryland credit union will offer business services to the medical cannabis industry.