{"id":66276,"date":"2020-02-04T13:20:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T20:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-taking-marijuana-banking-into-its-own-hands\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:36:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:36:54","slug":"colorado-taking-marijuana-banking-into-its-own-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-taking-marijuana-banking-into-its-own-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado taking marijuana banking into its own hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Automated
Automated fans and cultivation lights are pictured operating above cannabis plants at RiNo Supply\u2019s cultivation facility near Lafayette on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Automation sensors monitor temperature, humidity and light intensity inside the greenhouse as a way of regulating the fans and light output and, according to the cannabis company, help reduce energy-consumption costs.<\/span>Andy Colwell\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado is taking action to try to give more legal marijuana businesses in the state access to banking as a congressional effort to knock down federal barriers has stalled.<\/p>\n

A handful of banks in Colorado are working with marijuana businesses, including Partner Colorado Credit Union in Arvada, where Gov. Jared Polis on Monday unveiled a road map to increase the number of financial institutions offering their services to the cannabis industry by 20%.<\/p>\n

But many more banks won\u2019t work with cannabis businesses because of the potential regulatory and criminal consequences, because pot is illegal under federal law. That has left many marijuana companies without access<\/a> to accounts or loans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an obligation to do what we can with the tools that we have while we work on this federal fix,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

Polis is ordering his administration to identify opportunities for state legislative and regulatory clarity for state-chartered financial institutions, state-licensed money transmitters and state-regulated insurance companies. The idea is to create a path for bank-cannabis businesses relationships by ensuring financial institutions that Colorado has their backs if they take the risk.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, speaks at a news conference announcing Colorado\u2019s roadmap to encourage more financial institutions to work with the cannabis industry on Monday, Feb, 3, 2020.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado Treasurer Dave Young, Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs Executive Director Patty Salazar and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, are working with Polis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just reiterates our commitment,\u201d Salazar said.<\/p>\n

The state says it cannot disclose how many financial institutions offer services to marijuana businesses, but the Colorado Bankers Association told The Colorado Sun last year that it may be as many as 35.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re willing to take on a small number of clients, and their fees are high because of the regulatory burden. Banks that do work with marijuana companies in Colorado often make them sign nondisclosure agreements to avoid scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Financial institutions are able to remain in regulatory compliance, albeit gingerly, under guidance provided in 2014 by the U.S. Treasury Department\u2019s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network, but federal prosecutors could still intervene.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs federal prosecutors, we will never tell them that what they are doing is lawful under federal law,\u201d Colorado\u2019s U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn told The Sun in October. \u201cThere\u2019s always a risk, just like a retail marijuana business in Colorado, that they face federal prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

But making marijuana businesses operate without access to banking products also has its risks. Polis said lack of access to banking poses both an economic and public safety threat to the legal industry.<\/p>\n

Pot companies are almost exclusively cash businesses because of their inability to use financial institutions<\/a>. There have been burglaries, robberies and even a homicide at legal marijuana shops as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, cannabis businesses have been blocked from traditional financial products \u2013 like lines of credit, loans \u2013 that would help businesses grow,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

Partner Colorado Credit Union President and CEO Sundie Seefried lauded the road map as a positive step. Safe Harbor, the division of Partner Colorado Credit Union that handles marijuana businesses\u2019 accounts, has been growing rapidly \u2013 a sign that there is demand for financial services.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafe Harbor is now banking in excess of $200 million a month of cannabis-related funds, and that money only continues to grow,\u201d Seefried said.<\/p>\n

\"Partner
Partner Colorado Credit Union in Arvada is one of the few financial institutions willing to take the risk to work with the cannabis industry. Pictured is its headquarters on Monday, Feb, 3, 2020.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Meanwhile, a push for a federal overhaul could make Polis\u2019 efforts unnecessary.<\/p>\n

The SAFE Banking Act, which has been in the works since 2013, cleared the U.S. House last year with bipartisan support. Spearheaded by Perlmutter, it would shield banks and credit unions from prosecution for handling legal pot money.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s awaiting debate in the Senate, where Colorado\u2019s Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is championing the bill.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s unlikely to move forward soon because Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has said he\u2019d like to see a cap for marijuana potency for businesses that want access to banks. The cannabis industry sees that as a nonstarter because it would dramatically limit what shops could sell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with Sen. Crapo, who has given his roadmap of things he\u2019s concerned about,\u201d Perlmutter said. \u201cWe can work with any of his particular points. We expect movement on that bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

legislative and regulatory change to help banks work with businesses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1504,394,21,13,28,135,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-66276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-banking","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-marijuana","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90415,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66276\/revisions\/90415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66276"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=66276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}