June 8, 2022
Alongside industries it already tracks like liquor stores, convenience stores, casinos and car dealers—as part of its ongoing efforts to combat money laundering activities.
In another sign that the federal government is gradually recognizing the legitimacy of the cannabis market being legalized in a growing number of states.
Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) posted a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday saying it plans to track marijuana businesses as part of an annual Risk Summary Form (RSF) that needs to be filed by financial institutions.
“RSF collects data about different products, services, customers, and geographies (PSCs),” the notice says, adding that the agency intends to start gathering data from banks on “marijuana-related businesses” for the first time, in addition to other markets of emerging interest such as crypto assets and ATM operators.
With the emergence of new products and services, “banks’ evaluation of money laundering and terrorist financing risks should evolve as well.”
Therefore, by making these changes to its data collection process, the agency said it will be better able to “identify those institutions, and areas within institutions, that may pose heightened risk and allocate examination resources accordingly.”
A public comment period on the proposed changes is open through August 8.
It’s not immediately clear how the information collected on the Risk Summary Form is analyzed or disseminated by OCC after being submitted by banks, but the new notice says the data allows the agency to “better identify those institutions, and areas within institutions, that may pose heightened risk and allocate examination resources accordingly.”
Information on the number of financial institutions that work with cannabis-related businesses is already reported through Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that banks and credit unions are required to submit under existing guidance, and Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) publicly releases that data on a quarterly basis.
The number of banks that report working with marijuana businesses ticked up again near the end of 2021, according to the most recent FinCEN report..
As Congress works to advance legislation to end federal cannabis prohibition and reform banking policies related to the marijuana industry, the government has tacitly acknowledged and normalized its existence despite the fact that cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act
