Barry Abbott and Jimmy Zack authored an article titled “Current Banking Issues in the Cannabis Industry” for The Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report, Vol. 72, No. 4, at 390 (2018). The article explores the growth of the U.S. legal marijuana market, which is expected to exceed $23 billion by 2022, as well as the impact that federal prohibitions on marijuana have on banking in the industry, leading to significant public safety concerns and extensive security expenses.
… The so-called ‘Sessions Memo’ (rescinding the Cole Memo on January 4, 2018) caused virtually all national financial institutions to refuse to engage with any marijuana-related businesses, even as those institutions were already reluctant to engage with marijuana-related businesses while the Cole Memo was still in effect.