Marijuana banking scheme passes first test in Colorado legislature

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) – Colorado lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that if enacted would lead to the first marijuana financial system in the United States, potentially granting legal cannabis businesses access to the Federal Reserve’s money transaction system. Traditional banks have been wary to knowingly serve legal and medicinal marijuana businesses because the drug remains illegal under federal law, said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Jonathan Singer. “This sets up a new type of financial structure to the gap we’re seeing between banking and the marijuana industry,” said Singer, a Democrat. The proposal calls for new “cannabis credit co-ops” – similar to credit unions without deposit insurance – to be governed by the state’s financial services commissioner.