The California Department of Business Oversight issued an extensive questionnaire that provides guidance to banks and other financial institutions seeking to serve cannabis-related businesses.
The questionnaire contains a compliance guide on the Bank Secrecy Act, with a focus on the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and its guidance on cannabis banking. The California regulator also reaffirmed its intention not to impose regulatory penalties on state-chartered banks and credit unions if they provide financial services to licensed cannabis businesses.
In September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to provide safe harbor to financial institutions seeking to serve cannabis-related businesses. The bill would also extend the same protections to insurance companies, brokers and agents. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, recently expressed support for a Senate version of the bill that would extend the same protections to financial institutions.
