Banks operating in the legal marijuana business entered 2018 full of hope.
California became the country’s largest market, bringing the number of states with legal recreational marijuana to eight with projected revenue to be in the billions. Twelve more states have initiatives this year to determine whether they too will offer legal marijuana sales.
Investors are lining up, and financial institutions are entering this lucrative market. Sure, there is risk, and to help manage that risk, the banking industry looked to the Cole memorandum issued by the Department of Justice under President Obama, along with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulations, as a framework to help stay compliant with state laws and to avoid running afoul of federal bank-reporting guidelines.
Read the full article in American Banker