Banks Need Government's Help to Say Yes to Weed, Lawmakers Argue

A group of lawmakers want to make it easier for banks to just say yes to the booming business for legalized marijuana.

Four Democratic U.S. senators from Washington, Colorado and Oregon, asked a group of regulators Thursday to clarify how lenders can help finance the industry and still comply with the law so that companies in states that permit pot sales don’t have to run their businesses solely on cash.

“Many marijuana-related businesses are experiencing difficulty accessing financial services and must operate all-cash operations,” Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, Patty Murray from Washington and Michael Bennet from Colorado wrote in a letter to six U.S. regulators. “Without clearer guidance from all federal regulators to provide certainty in the regulatory environment, most banks and credit unions are still not serving marijuana-related clients."

The U.S. government has indicated it wants to encourage banks to lend to marijuana companies and...

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