Despite the historic opening of Barbados' first medicinal cannabis dispensary, the banking sector remains unable to fully support the fledgling industry because of persistent constraints tied to international banking regulations.
President of the Barbados Bankers' Association (BBA) Shimon McIntosh said the long-standing issue of correspondent banking – specifically tied to the federal illegality of cannabis in the United States – continues to present a major obstacle for local financial institutions when it comes to banking proceeds from the industry.
He noted that while the local legislative landscape has evolved to accommodate medical marijuana, this shift has not been matched by corresponding adjustments at the international level.
"I saw that they opened up this medical cannabis dispensary, but as far as I'm aware, correspondent banking is still one of the challenges. It's still a problem for us because, as you know, it's not legal on a federal level in the US and that's where the correspondent bank issue arises. So nothing really changes for the banking sector," McIntosh told the Saturday Sun in an interview.
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