[RetroGrow]

Yet another brick in the wall. I'm guessing full decriminalization by 2016.....

"The Obama administration on Friday gave banks a roadmap for doing business with legal marijuana sellers without getting into trouble, another step by the federal government toward enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it.

The guidance issued by the Justice Department and Treasury Department is intended to increase the availability of financial services for legal marijuana businesses that are licensed and regulated, while preserving the government's enforcement power.

Washington and Colorado in 2012 became the first states in the nation to approve recreational use of marijuana. A citizens' group is hoping to make Alaska the third state in the nation to do so.
Currently, processing money from marijuana sales puts federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges, and they therefore refuse to open accounts for marijuana-related businesses.

Friday's move will allow banks and other financial institutions to serve marijuana-related businesses while ensuring that they know their customers' legitimacy and remain obligated to report possible criminal activity, the Treasury Department said.

States' legalization of marijuana prompted the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a Treasury Department office, "to move from the shadows the historically covert financial operations of marijuana businesses," said office director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. "Our guidance provides financial institutions with clarity on what they must do if they are going to provide financial services to marijuana businesses and what reporting will assist law enforcement."

FinCEN writes the rules that U.S. financial institutions must follow to help protect the U.S. financial system from money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The office said it expects financial institutions to perform thorough customer due diligence on marijuana businesses and file reports that will be valuable to law enforcement.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...02-14-14-01-27

[norcal_sourD]

Wow. Changes they are a comin!

[Skip]

That's good news as it paves the way for legal business to get official bank recognition and be able to operate like any other business. It's still technically illegal, but the gov't sees benefits in the transparency and tax revenue.

This is worth noting! They are gonna watch over the banks and cannabizes like hawks. So to succeed you've got to keep your act clean and follow the rules.

The office said it expects financial institutions to perform thorough customer due diligence on marijuana businesses and file reports that will be valuable to law enforcement.

It makes it so much easier for gov't to tax and confiscate a biz's money. I think many bizes will stick with cash sales. After all how many people trust the govt and leos to not screw them over at some point? It's been done before.

But at least now, if you have a clean biz, perhaps you can operate with legal protections and access to the financial system including merchant accounts, loans, insurance, etc.

[Skip]

More from that article (worth reading)

Under the guidance, banks must review state license applications for marijuana customers, request information about the business, develop an understanding of the types of products to be sold and monitor publicly available sources for any negative information about the business.

That's a LOT for a bank to do, esp. the last one. Do banks have nothing else to do than surf the net on a regular biz looking for negative reports on their customers?

The guidance provided the banks with more than 20 "red flags" that may indicate a violation of state law. Among them: if a business receives substantially more revenue than its local competitors, deposits more cash than is in line with the amount of marijuana-related revenue it is reporting for federal and state tax purposes, or experiences a surge in activity by third parties offering goods or services such as equipment suppliers or shipping services.

If a marijuana-related business is seen engaging in international or interstate activity, such as the receipt of cash deposits from locations outside the state, that's a red flag, too.

Sounds to me like way too much onus on the banks. I kinda doubt they'll go for that kind of scrutiny just to get a few more acccounts. Nearly everything is automated in a bank nowadays. They're requiring regular account reviews of these businesses unlike others. This sets a dangerous precedent for all businesses. They're basically requiring the banks to audit their customer's business. That will be high maintenance at the very least, so they'll either deny those accounts or charge them very high fees to do biz.

[Payaso]

A press release from ASA states:

PRESS RELEASE
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: February 14, 2014
Contact: ASA Media Specialist Kris Hermes 510-681-6361

Medical Marijuana Advocates Welcome Long Awaited Change in Banking Policy for Licensed Businesses
Advocates vow to continue pressure on Obama Administration to establish comprehensive medical marijuana policy

Washington, D.C. -- Medical marijuana advocates are applauding a new memorandum issued today by the U.S. Departments of Treasury (DOT) and Justice (DOJ) giving long-awaited guidance to financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, to provide services to marijuana-related businesses in states where it's legal. A refusal to engage in these services has plagued medical marijuana businesses for years, dating back to the Bush Administration. Due to an aggressive accelerated policy under Obama Administration, States like California, Colorado, Washington, Michigan and others have been forced to deal in large amounts of cash.

The memo issued today by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the DOJ "clarifies customer due diligence expectations and reporting requirements for financial institutions seeking to provide services to marijuana businesses," said a press release issued by FinCEN. The memo also includes clarity for credit card service companies, such as VISA and MasterCard, whose services for medical marijuana-related businesses had also been suspended for years.

Nearly all of the more than 1,000 licensed dispensaries in California and Colorado have for years been forced to operate on a cash-only basis, considerably increasing the risk not just for the affected medical marijuana businesses, but also for the tens of thousands of patients who have had to use cash to obtain their medication. To make matters worse, due to apparent pressure from the Obama Administration, armored car companies began refusing to service licensed medical marijuana businesses last year.

"We have been pushing the federal government for years to make these commonsense concessions and we're pleased that the Obama Administration is finally doing so," said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which successfully lobbied members of Congress in 2010 to change the administration's errant policy. "At the same time, a piecemeal approach to medical marijuana policy is shortsighted and is an issue that deserves a comprehensive public health solution."

Although the federal government has issued guidance memoranda concerning discrete marijuana policy for a number of executive departments, such as DOJ, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Veterans Affairs (VA), the Obama Administration has so far failed to address medical marijuana in a comprehensive policy framework. For example, the reclassification of marijuana from its current status as a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value, has been long sought by advocates like ASA but strenuously resisted by the federal government.

"We will certainly be working with banks, credit unions, and credit card companies to ensure proper implementation of this federal guidance," continued Sherer. "Removing the risks of operating as an 'all-cash' business cannot be overstated, but we will also continue to put pressure on the Obama Administration to wrap these types of discrete practices into a more comprehensive medical marijuana policy."
Further information:
New federal guidance on marijuana for financial institutions: https://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/...-2014-G001.pdf
FinCEN press release on new guidance: https://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/html/20140214.html
2010 letter to Treasury from 15 Member of Congress: https://american-safe-access.s3.amazo...o_Treasury.pdf

# # #

With over 50,000 active members in all 50 states, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers.

[mojave green]

another useless memo without the force of law. i'll be very surprised if banks do it!

[RetroGrow]

As always the bureaucracy sucks. The "fine print", the "gotchas" are always going to be there due to too many lawyers needing to get payed, politicians looking for votes, and 70+ years of prejudice against us. But, looking at the bigger picture, not a day goes by when I don't read an article about cannabis. It has gone mainstream on television, and even had it's own series on cable, with more to come. Not only that, but they are regularly smoking weed on "Two & A Half Men", the number 1 network show for years on CBS. It's only a matter of time now. Once we prevail, and I believe that's inevitable now, we will get around the fine print. It's been a long, hard fight, and many have had their lives ruined, but we have been right all along and will be vindicated. The DEA will continue to spread their lies, but even they can see the writing on the wall. We have won, but must continue to fight on. Once the U.S. decriminalizes federally, the rest of the world will follow, with the possible exception of the Muslim world. Next target: The United Nations.

[hayday]

I.R.S.>
The dudes want your money.

[eventualist]

Originally Posted by RetroGrow

Yet another brick in the wall.

Thank you for posting. Great article. But isn't this technically 'removing' another brick in the wall LOL

[gaiusmarius]

very interesting subject. i wonder if any banks will actually go for it? gov probably told them to as it makes their control over said businesses much more complete if they are in the banking system. still the big national and international banks will probably be scared. maybe some small state banks will do it?