Cannabusiness

Oregon Bank Accepts Cannabis Business, Then Rescinds Offer, Source: http://cannabiscapitalsummit.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Banking.gifAbout a week ago, MBank, an Oregon community bank, openly invited Colorado cannabis industry customers to use its services.

Well, that experiment was short lived. MBank rescinded its offer as fast as it went out, citing that the small bank lacked the capacity to handle the sheer amount of interested customers. Jef Baker, CEO at MBank, released the following statement, “following national press, the volume of inquiries in Oregon, Washington and Colorado has been so overwhelming that we don’t currently have the infrastructure to adequately support all these customers. Colorado is the farthest from our market area and the most difficult to provide the quality customer service to.”

Other, more cynical folks (me included), point the finger at the FDIC, which has historically disallowed banks from dealing with cannabis. Since cannabis is still illegal on a federal level, any bank that chooses to work with cannabis customers has been subject to violating money laundering laws.

MBank made a brash move and widely publicized their intention to work within the cannabis market, without first seeking FDIC approval. There is some speculation that, had MBank been more respectful of the FDIC and sought their permission, this issue might not have come up.

One anonymous insider in the banking industry said, “the regulators have the gun and all the bullets. Any of us who have survived (the financial crisis) knows exactly how this works. If we’re not team players, our life becomes miserable.”

*sigh*

I sometimes get the feeling that the feds know that cannabis legalization is steamrolling its way forward and they are just being petty speed bumps while they still can. Here is yet another request to please reschedule cannabis to a more realistic designation. So many of these nonsensical issues would evaporate.