Financial Institutions, Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs)

32 Attorneys General call for enactment of marijuana banking legislation

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/27/2025

Thirty-two attorneys general representing states, territories and Washington, D.C. are asking Congress to pass legislation to provide financial institutions a safe harbor if they provide services to marijuana-related...more

Recent SEC AML Enforcement Against Securities Firms Engaged in Cannabis Sector

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani on 5/22/2025

The evolving regulatory landscape for marijuana-related businesses poses unique compliance challenges for firms in the securities industry. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) continues to enforce its 2014...more

Cannabis Banking: Will the SAFE Banking Act Finally Pass?

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 6/22/2022

One of the largest headwinds facing the cannabis industry is the lack of access to banking services. Many financial institutions refuse to serve the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry given the regulatory uncertainty...more

Cannabis Banking: An Update on the SAFE Banking Act

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/26/2021

Despite the cannabis industry’s explosive growth, many financial institutions have been hesitant to transact with cannabis-related businesses given the ambiguity created by divergent state and federal cannabis laws. The SAFE...more

Missouri Financial Institutions Must Prepare for Impending Marijuana Banking Challenges

Stinson LLP on 1/15/2020

In November 2018, Missouri voters passed Amendment 2, setting in motion state regulated medical marijuana. Over the last month, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) began approving license applications...more

Are Bank Regulators "Mellowing Out" on Cannabis?

Carlton Fields on 12/13/2019

Federal bank regulators no longer require banks to submit suspicious activity reports (SARs) for legally authorized hemp business transactions, absent another required circumstance....more

The House Passes Cannabis Banking Legislation: Implications for the Financial Services Industry

White & Case LLP on 10/9/2019

On September 25, 2019, the US House of Representatives ("House") passed, by a vote of 321 to 103, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act ("SAFE Banking Act"), bipartisan legislation designed to secure and regulate...more

Financial Institutions › Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) › Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs)