CUs react to Feds’ decision threatening their lucrative pot business

Credit unions that serve the marijuana industry are not pressing the panic button yet in reaction to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions decision to reverse former President Barack Obama’s policy that shielded legalized pot businesses from federal prosecution.

While credit union executives, who have a lot of money riding on Sessions’ decision, are saying publicly that they are waiting to hear more from federal agencies before responding, at least one CEO, who wrote the book on pot banking, may be already considering an exit strategy that would shut down the credit union’s lucrative marijuana business.

In a 2017 interview, Sundie Seefried, president/CEO of the $352 million Partner Colorado Credit Union in Arvada, Colo., and its division, Safe Harbor Private Banking, which processes $70 million a month for marijuana business clients,  expressed great concern about what would happen under the Trump administration and whether banks and financial institutions are in “harm’s way” by continuing to bank the marijuana industry where it has been legalized in 29 states either for recreational or medicinal uses.

 

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