For the third fiscal quarter in a row, the number of financial institutions reporting that they service state-legal cannabis businesses has declined, new federal data shows.
As of September 30, there were 677 banks and credit unions that filed reports saying they were working with cannabis clients. That’s down from 695 in the last fiscal quarter ending in June and 711 for the quarter preceding that, according to a report published by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) late last week.
But the reasoning behind the trend appears to be multifaceted and not necessarily a reflection of an increasing unwillingness for banks to take on the cannabis industry.
One of the most significant factors is related to a change in Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) requirements for hemp firms. FinCEN, which is part of the Treasury Department, stopped including hemp-only businesses in their quarterly reports since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill—which accounts for at least part of the dip as compared to prior figures that counted hemp-focused accounts.
Read more at marijuanamoment.net