Banking, intellectual property, food and beverage (and cosmetics), international trade, domestic trade, state laws, ag production contracts, etc., etc. When it comes to industrial hemp, the 2018 Farm Bill upended all of these things. Our cannabis business lawyers have been busy advising a large number of new hemp and hemp-CBD businesses getting in on the…
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Cannabis Securities Litigation: Hawaii Federal Court Denies Motion to Stay Civil “Pump and Dump” Case Pending Resolution of Parallel Criminal Proceedings
CaliforniaHawaiiUncategorized May 5, 2019
Cannabis is hyped as a hot investment, and it can be, though it is not without risk as a recent CNN article points out. (See also links below). Setting aside issues concerning the federal prohibition on marijuana, the cannabis industry’s path from the black market to legalization has been rife with hucksters and promises of…
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The deals in Oregon cannabis are getting very big and much of what we do these days involves mergers, acquisitions and cross border work. It’s amazing this happened so fast. Less than four years ago, as the OLCC began writing rules for the adult use marijuana industry, there was a distinct small business tenor to…
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The SAFE Banking Act just got a new, prominent supporter – on April 9, 2019, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pledged to take a look at the legislation that would allow financial institutions to service cannabis businesses. While the Treasury Secretary admitted he’s not familiar with the Act, he acknowledged that the current conflict between federal…
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After its introduction on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, the House Financial Services Committee has voted 45-15 to advance the SAFE Banking Act of 2019 to the House floor on a to-be-determined date. Currently, the Safe Banking Act has 152 cosponsors, including 12 Republicans, which is more than one-third of the entire House of Representatives. House…
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Cannabis Companies, Public Markets and Supervoting Shares
Recreational MarijuanaUncategorized March 21, 2019
Recently, the concept of “supervoting shares” in U.S. public companies has surfaced again in the news. Supervoting shares are created where founders wish to dilute themselves in an economic sense (in exchange for transformative capital), but retain outsized control in management and governance. This is different than your typical “class A and B shares” setup,…
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The Marijuana Banking Bill Is Off To A Strong Start
Uncategorized March 17, 2019
Great news: on March 7, 2019, the “Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019” (or, the “SAFE Banking Act”) was officially introduced in the House of Representatives. Even greater news: championed by Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Denny Heck (D-WA), the SAFE Banking Act reached the House with a bipartisan alliance of 106 co-sponsors…
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The Marijuana Banking Bill is Back and Stronger Than Ever
Uncategorized February 27, 2019
Six years after it was initially introduced, the House Financial Services Committee released the latest draft legislation that would create a “safe harbor” for banks to serve the rapidly expanding cannabis industry on February 7, 2019. Entitled the “Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019” (or, the “SAFE Banking Act of 2019”), the bill…
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Industrial Hemp and the Banks: Slow Going
HempUncategorized January 16, 2019
We have spilled a lot of ink on this blog related to the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp at the federal level. It’s huge news. And there are so many ramifications, from food law to trademarks to the financial services environment. This blog post is going to cover financial institutions and hemp at about…
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More Banks and Credit Unions Are Working with Cannabis Businesses
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 7, 2018
According to a recent report from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a growing number of financial institutions are willing to work with cannabis businesses. As of September 30, 375 banks and 111 credit unions were managing marijuana business accounts. These numbers reveal a steady growth in the number of financial providers…
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