Cannabis Banking: Can I Do It?
This is the first of a three-part webinar series focused on successfully banking cannabis. You can register for this free webinar here.
It’s hard to ignore the buzz around the emerging cannabis industry. Legal in 33 states and counting, this $13+b industry is of particular interest to banks and credit unions looking for low cost deposit growth, increased fee revenue, and strong commercial partnerships with local small business owners. I’ve spoken to hundreds of banking leaders recently, and every one of them had an opinion on cannabis banking.
It seems every board meeting, conference, and publication, has a “cannabis banking” focus, but few outlets offer a pragmatic approach to mitigating the risks involved with serving the cannabis industry. Weighing the need to withstand examiner scrutiny against the desire to build a profitable cannabis banking program may seem daunting, but through proper planning, the right partner, and a purpose-built system to mitigate risks, cannabis banking can become a reality for your institution.
The cannabis banking conversation starts with a question: Can I do it?
Perhaps you’ve already asked yourself this critical question but have you arrived at an answer? In discussing this question with our partners, we’ve seen them gain a deeper understanding of both the regulatory and legal background of cannabis banking, as well as the institution’s operational and strategic factors that make their opportunity unique. It’s easy to make a surface-level decision based on the available (though confusing) information on the topic, but this issue requires a deeper dive in order to make an informed decision.
To examine this question further we have teamed up with marijuana legal expert Alan Hanson of Gleam Law to conduct a webinar on Thursday July 18 at 12pm ET. Alan is the recognized cannabis lawyer and cannabis credit union expert in Oregon. His practice focuses on developing cannabis and hemp credit union divisions. Prior to Gleam Law, he spent 17 years as the General Counsel and Compliance Officer for Maps Credit Union, where he created and managed the first fully compliant cannabis credit union division in Oregon.
Alan and I will help business and compliance leaders at financial institutions learn how to:
- Create a strategy to develop a successful program
- Build a business case to get key stakeholder approval
- Establish a framework for building the program
If you and your colleagues would like to join us, you can register here.
