Department Of Justice Paves Way For Banks To Work With Pot Shops, Citing Public Safety

[kpete]

Department Of Justice Paves Way For Banks To Work With Pot Shops, Citing Public Safety
Posted: 08/30/2013 9:00 am EDT | Updated: 08/30/2013 11:06 am EDT

WASHINGTON -- Financial institutions and other enterprises that do business with marijuana shops that are in compliance with state laws are unlikely to be prosecuted for money laundering or other federal crimes that could be brought under existing federal drug laws, a senior Department of Justice official said Thursday.

During a briefing on the department's new policy Thursday, the official would not fully rule out prosecution in any case, but the guidance is a reversal of administration policy that had warned banks not to work with marijuana businesses. The Justice official said that the department recognized that forcing the establishments to operate on a cash basis put them at greater risk of robbery and violence.

A three-page memo that accompanied the Thursday announcement speaks to the situation in more general terms, noting that a well-regulated, legal marijuana industry could come with a number of benefits to public safety and health. After listing a set of federal priorities -- keeping pot away from kids, preventing gangs and cartels from profiting from the drug trade -- the memo, authored by Deputy Attorney General James Cole, suggests that "robust" state regulation of legal marijuana "may affirmatively address those priorities by, for example, implementing effective measures to prevent diversion of marijuana outside of the regulated system and to other states, prohibiting access to marijuana by minors, and replacing an illicit marijuana trade that funds criminal enterprises with a tightly regulated market in which revenues are tracked and account for."

It is difficult to argue that any system that operates only in cash could be a "tightly regulated market in which revenues are tracked and account for.





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/banks-marijuana_n_3842526.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. So what they would be doing would be illegal but the justice department will look the other way? n/t

[Rex]

2. Yes, they DOJ finally decided to apply that policy to everything.

Since Wall Street loved the idea so much...

[KansDem]

4. Sure, they do that now!

Report: HSBC allowed money laundering that likely funded terror, drugs

A "pervasively polluted" culture at HSBC allowed the bank to act as financier to clients moving shadowy funds from the world's most dangerous and secretive corners, including Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria, according to a scathing U.S. Senate report issued on Monday.

The report [link to PDF here] which comes ahead of a Senate hearing on Tuesday, said large amounts of Mexican drug money likely passed through the bank.

HSBC's U.S. division provided money and banking services to some banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh believed to have helped fund al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, according to an Al-Jazeera story on the report.

While the big British bank's problems have been known for nearly a decade, the Senate probe detailed just how sweeping the problems have been, both at the bank and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a top U.S. bank regulator which the report said failed to properly monitor HSBC.

--more--
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/report-hsbc-allowed-money-laundering-likely-funded-terror-drugs-889170

[RainDog]

3. still too much uncertainty

but, again, it's a start.

[Billy Love]

5. Finally. I can use my debit card again, I hope.

It's been a pain in the ass to look for an ATM without any surcharge, until I realized 7-11 has a ATM that accepts CU co-op and does not charge.

This cash only business is extremely dangerous and now that the armored cars are ordered to avoid them, it gotten to a point where it got ridiculous.