The new Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-334) (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2018. Much press has been devoted to the fact that the Act generally legalizes industrial hemp and will provide federal Crop Insurance for that crop.
While this is potentially good news for farmers…
We are proud to support Seattle University’s 6th Annual Northwest Marijuana Law Conference taking place on Friday, November 16. Josh Ashby and Sativa Rasmussen are the program’s Co-Chairs and will lead the conversation, bringing together experts from the law and the industry to provide critical focus and frameworks.
Ben Pirie will present on “Updates on…
On July 3, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued its “Guidance on Provision of Financial Services to Medical Marijuana & Industrial Hemp-Related Businesses in New York State (PDF).” In the memorandum, DFS Superintendent Maria T. Vullo examines the current banking issues facing the state-legal marijuana businesses and states (in our…
As our regular readers are aware, Senators Warren and Gardner introduced a bi-partisan bill in the Senate for the federal government: (1) to generally defer to state laws legalizing marijuana and (2) to effectively allow all banks to provide services to legal cannabis businesses in the same way that they treat other legal businesses…
On June 7, 2018, a supermajority of the Washington Legislature blessed financial institutions and accountants providing services for the licensed marijuana industry. The new law is comfort legislation for a special class in Washington. It is also a protest against impressions about the threat of federal prosecution. But what comfort is the legislation for persons falling outside the protected group? Does it provide any comfort or is it the proverbial cold comfort? The answer may be economics and politics (limited funds to target violent crime, federal/state relations and votes) should reduce the threat of prosecution, regardless of the new legislation.
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Continue Reading 2018 Washington State Comfort Legislation for the Financial Industry and Accountants Dealing With Licensed Marijuana Businesses
We recently reported that the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was retaining its Bank Secrecy Act marijuana guidance. Last week, a senior official in the Department of the Treasury indicated that, as a result of U.S. Attorney Sessions’ recent actions, FinCEN is reviewing the guidance it issued on February 14, 2014 entitled:…
As we reported last week, U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum on January 4 rescinding the seminal cannabis “Cole Memo” and other DOJ guidance involving cannabis. This has raised continuing issues and confusion for financial institutions concerning what the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would do concerning the guidance it…
Determining the fair market value of an interest in a cannabis business is a difficult task. Existing and potential clients frequently ask us how cannabis businesses should be valued and whether or not there are any “trends” in assessing value. These questions are not surprising given the various instances where a valuation is important. You…
In the past two weeks, the SEC has temporarily suspended two marijuana stocks that trade on the OTC Markets. The suspensions lasting until June 5, involved, respectively, a questionable press release concerning a proposed acquisition and a lack of information provided to investors concerning the company’s controlling interests. While specific to these two companies, it…
Lane Powell supports the Cannabis Investor Network (CIN) in Seattle. The mission of CIN is to connect accredited investors with state-legal cannabis businesses that need additional capital. Lane Powell hosted the inaugural event in our Seattle office earlier this year with about 40 guests, and hosted the second event last night with about twice that…