For a state that took 22 years to get from medical marijuana legalization to recreational adult-use sales, California is making significant strides with the state's cannabis industry. On Sept. 29, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed several cannabis-related bills into law. This is effectively paving the way for much-anticipated (and sorely needed) banking and financial
More movement. The move for marijuana reform is charging ahead, despite the recent postponement of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote is monumental; this vote, if passed, will remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The social justice component, promoted heavily at the state-level, serves as a means of providing
Ahhh, progress. While the feds are still calling out marijuana as illegal, they’re now more amenable to it; at least from a tax revenue perspective. And they want voluntary compliance. So it should come as no surprise that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a marijuana business webpage outlining tax responsibilities for marijuana business
A bipartisan coalition of state treasurers from 15 states (and one territory) are pushing for Congress to include marijuana banking protections and reform in a future coronavirus relief package. In July, the group sent a letter to congressional leadership. Contents included pressuring for inclusion of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in any
Just when it seemed like the cannabis industry would have access to banking through the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Act, which was included in the May 12 COVID relief bill that was approved by the House on May 12, things quickly changed. The provision was excluded in the most recent version, approved by Senate
Financial institutions received the OK to work with hemp in recent years, but it is largely unchartered territory for many banks and credit unions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued guidance to financial institutions on how to best work with hemp businesses and stay within the law. Hemp-related businesses can now work with
Fewer banks reported that they worked with cannabis-related businesses in the latest report from Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), but it’s not clear why. FinCEN suggested in its report that this short-term decline could be because financial institutions are exceeding the 90-day requirement for filing suspicious activity reports (SARs). Banks must file SARs when working
A renewed push for cannabis banking regulations has seen the latest coronavirus relief bill adopt them as it was approved in the House of Representatives. The Health and Economic Recover Omnibus Solutions (HEROES) Act, aka H.R. 6800, includes many facets, and cannabis banking provisions brought over from the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act
People in the cannabis industry aren’t the only ones who want to see banking access opened up -- attorneys general from 34 U.S. states and territories have sent an urgent message to Congress to make it happen. Calling the status quo “an untenable situation,” the attorneys general signed a letter in favor of the Safe
