I had a hunch the big O would pull through in his second term... <div> <div><div>Main » NORML Blog » ACTIVISM » Departments of Justice and Treasury Release Marijuana Banking Guidance <div>\tDepartments of Justice and Treasury Release Marijuana Banking Guidance by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director February 14, 2014<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span style="margin:3px 3px 0px;color:#000000;font-size:11px;"> </span><div><span style="margin:3px 3px 0px;color:#000000;font-size:11px;"><span></span></span> <div style="margin:0px;font-size:1px;"> </div>Today, the Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network division of the Treasury Department released long anticipated guidance to banks and other financial institutions on how they can interact with marijuana businesses that are licensed under state law. Under current regulations, financial institutions are required to file suspicious activity reports when they suspect the transaction has a drug connection. The new guidance creates a three tiered system for these reports: marijuana limited, marijuana priority, and marijuana termination. This will allow these institutions to work with marijuana businesses as long as they were operating in accordance with state laws and regulations. The Department of Justice reserved the right to pursue criminal charges when they suspect businesses are breaking the guidelines they released late last year and would still require banks to report any activity they suspect to be as operating outside of state regulations. “Now that some states have elected to legalize and regulate the marijuana trade, FinCEN seeks to move from the shadows the historically covert financial operations of marijuana businesses,†noted FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery in a press release. “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.†“This reduces the burden on banks,†FinCEN stated during a briefing on the memo, “Marijuana under federal law requires a SAR. Now, the necessity is limited, reducing the banks' burden a bit and more importantly clarifies where law enforcement focuses its attention.†While this is a good start when it comes to allowing marijuana businesses to operate the same as those in any other regulated industry, memos such as these can be ultimately overturned by future administrations. To make this change lasting and binding, Congress must now act to codify it into law. The Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act is currently pending before the House of Representatives and would do just that. You can click here to quickly and easily write your representative and urge him/her to support this important legislation. You can view the full text of the memo from FinCEN here. The DOJ memo can be viewed here. <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span style="margin:3px 3px 0px;color:#000000;font-size:11px;"> </span> <span style="margin:3px 3px 0px;color:#000000;font-size:11px;"><span></span></span> Tags : banking, banks, business, DOJ, dot, finance, fincen, guidance, marijuana, memo, money, NORML, regulations, treasury Posted in : ACTIVISM, GOVERNMENT </div></div></div></div></div>
how come its not required to file a suspicious activity report on all the transactions of the federal reserve? i think the government's time and resources would better be used towards investigating that, rather than some plant matter
Interesting OP. I know some people in canada that have had their accounts frozen by their banks because banking regulations haven't kept pace with the changing weed laws.
While it is surprising he actually kept his word on something that wasnt the Unaffordable Care Act, This doesnt mean he is pro-marijuana. Hes just pandering because he knows public opinion is quickly moving towards ending prohibition once and for all
Dont be fooled. If you read the actual bill, it pretty much turns banks into watchdogs for the fed Obama still wants marijuana illegal. The whitehouse is still openly against legalization Sent from my LG-E739 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
How is this 'pulling through'? lol Funny thing is, I was reading this on another site, came to grasscity and almost immediately saw this header for the thread, thinking, that since this is a pro-marijuana site that it would probably contain an article with the same viewpoint. I was wrong. Here is how the acitivistpost.com (a site that requires skepticism itself) reads this issue: http://www.activistpost.com/2014/02/feds-issue-bank-rules-for-pot-shops-spy.html Essentially agreeing with what @[member="lenny"] , @[member="LuxTenebris"] , and @[member="yurigadaisukida"] have said..