“Safe Harbor is now banking in excess of $200 million a month of cannabis-related funds, and that money only continues to grow,” Seefried said. Safe Harbor, the division of Partner Colorado Credit Union that handles marijuana businesses’ accounts, has been growing rapidly - a sign that there is demand for pot financial services. Partner Colorado Credit Union President and CEO Sundie Seefried lauded the roadmap as another positive step toward ensuring the cannabis industry has the banking access it needs. “Furthermore, cannabis businesses have been blocked from traditional financial products - like lines of credit, loans - that would help businesses grow,” Polis said. There have been burglaries, robberies and even a homicide at legal marijuana shops as a result. Pot companies are almost exclusively cash businesses because of their inability to use financial institutions. Polis said lack of access to banking poses both an economic and public safety threat to the legal industry. In Colorado, that’s already happening.īut making marijuana businesses operate without access to banking products also has its risks. MORE: Congress is weighing whether to give marijuana businesses access to banks. “There’s always a risk, just like a retail marijuana business in Colorado, that they face federal prosecution.” Attorney Jason Dunn told The Sun in October. “As federal prosecutors, we will never tell them that what they are doing is lawful under federal law,” Colorado’s U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network, but federal prosecutors could still intervene. The limited number of banks that do work with marijuana businesses are only willing to take on a small number of clients, and their fees are high because of the regulatory burden.īanks that do work with marijuana companies in Colorado often make them sign nondisclosure agreements to avoid scrutiny.įinancial institutions are able to remain in regulatory compliance, albeit gingerly, under guidance provided in 2014 by the U.S. The state says it cannot disclose how many financial institutions are offering their services to marijuana businesses, but the Colorado Bankers Association told The Colorado Sun last year that it may be as many as 35. “This just reiterates our commitment,” Salazar said. Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, are working with Polis on the effort. The idea is to create a path for more bank-cannabis businesses relationships by ensuring financial institutions know Colorado has their backs if they decide to take the risk.Ĭolorado Treasurer Dave Young, Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs Executive Director Patty Salazar and U.S. 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.

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