Cannabis Law Prof Blog

Editor: Franklin G. Snyder
Texas A&M University
School of Law

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Federal Judge Nixes Cannabis Credit Union Appeal

AA proposed cannabis credit union in Colorado lost another round this week.  U.S. District Judge Brooke Jackson threw out a lawsuit by Fourth Corner Credit Union challenging the Federal Reserve's refusal to issue a "routing number" to the FCCU.  Without a routing number, FCCU cannot access the federal check-clearing process and can't function as a credit union.  The Denver Post has details of the decision.

While I haven't seen the opinion, the ruling was hardly unexpected.  As Judge Jackson apparently noted, selling marijuana is a federal crime, handling marijuana deposits and using the banking system for marijuana profits is a separate crime ("money laundering"), and thus the Federal Reserve had no obligation to help further the NCCU's.

The decision leaves cannabis businesses in the banking limbo they've been in since quasi-legal marijuana sales began a decade ago.   But until the Obama Justice Department moves to reschedule marijuana, or Congress changes the law, it's hardly likely that the Federal Reserve (or the National Credit Union Administration, which FCCU is also suing) will change the rules to allow illegal businesses to use the banking system.

 

 

 

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/cannabis_law/2016/01/federal-judge-nixes-cannabis-credit-union-appeal.html

Banking, Federal Regulation, News | Permalink

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