The U.S. Justice Department's plan to pursue harsher sentences against drug traffickers and other narcotics-related activity should prompt financial institutions to reassess the risks posed by providing services to state-authorized cannabis businesses, say sources.
The U.S. Justice Department's policy of withholding enforcement of national laws against state-authorized, marijuana-related commerce that doesn't involve organized crime, sales to minors and other federal "priorities" will likely continue under President-elect Donald Trump.
U.S. broker-dealers are far more likely than depository institutions to take on state-sanctioned cannabis firms as clients, according to Alison Jimenez, president of Florida-based consultancy Dynamic Securities Analytics, Inc.
U.S. officials are drafting guidance for financial institutions concerned that accepting deposits from third-party companies serving state-licensed marijuana vendors may violate federal rules against money laundering, say sources.
This time last December, one might reasonably have expected that 2014 would be a year of modest changes for the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance sector. Then came JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and a convoy of Russian tanks to quash that notion.
Colorado's booming cannabis sector may be a boon for the state's coffers but it is proving to be a headache for banks, even when they don't maintain accounts for dispensaries.
A little-noticed amendment to a U.S. appropriations bill could do what lawmakers and lobbying groups alike have failed to do: ensure that banks don't pay for taking on state-licensed cannabis companies.
House lawmakers are asking the nation's financial intelligence unit to reform how it screens job applicants following reports that the bureau's recent hiring campaign may have violated federal standards.
The U.S. Treasury Department will soon tweak a regulatory proposal that would require financial institutions to report wire transfers to and from the United States, an official said Monday.
Even after the expected signing of a Colorado state measure clearing the way for marijuana dispensaries to bank themselves, the companies will face a long slog to acceptance by financial institutions.
Drug interdictions, illicit money seizures and suspicious bank wires related to Colorado are all on the rise since the state legalized the recreational use of marijuana, according to U.S. officials.
Looking at two guidance pieces from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) you get a quick lesson in how difficult it can be to regulate issues that society -let alone state and federal government- hasn't reached a consensus on.
Leaders of the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control sharply criticized the head of the nation's financial intelligence unit for issuing guidance on how banks can treat marijuana dispensaries.
If you attended the ACAMS moneylaundering.com conference in Hollywood, FL this past week, you were certain to hear concerns by compliance officers about Russian sanctions and, when the regulators weren't standing nearby, complaints that AML requirements aren't getting any easier.
As federal and state officials continue down the road toward relaxing cannabis restrictions, banks have questions beyond simply whether they can accept marijuana dispensaries as clients. They wonder whether less direct financial ties to the businesses could be cause for concern too.
Banks can choose whether to keep accounts for certain marijuana dispensaries and report limited information to federal officials when the businesses are unlikely targets of prosecutors, the U.S. Treasury Department said Friday.
A number of marijuana dispensaries are attempting to convert their profits into securities and other investments to hedge against the threat of having their bank accounts frozen and subjected to federal asset forfeiture proceedings, say sources.
Tasked to consider whether it can offer regulatory relief to the medical marijuana industry, the U.S. Treasury Department may have few options to persuade reluctant financial institutions to bank state-approved dispensaries.
Banks that maintain accounts for state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries will not be the targets of federal prosecutions, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.
Legislation introduced Wednesday to facilitate access of state-licensed marijuana vendors to banking services would strike down some federal reporting obligations placed on U.S. financial institutions.