Federal Reserve Denies Credit Union for Cannabis

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

Banking regulators just said no to a financial institution that aims to be the first to serve the expanding marijuana industry in Colorado.

The Fourth Corner Credit Union in Denver applied in November to the Federal Reserve for a “master account,” which would allow it to interact with other financial institutions and open its doors to some of the hundreds of state-licensed marijuana businesses in Colorado.

... The Fed’s branch in Kansas City, which has been reviewing the application, privately informed the Fourth Corner Credit Union earlier in July that it had not been approved for a master account, the credit union said on Thursday.

The credit union, which has the backing of Colorado’s governor, fired back on Thursday night by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Denver against the Fed, demanding “equal access” to the financial system.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/business/dealbook/federal-reserve-denies-credit-union-for-cannabis.html

[RKP5637]

1. Excellent!!! "The credit union, which has the backing of Colorado’s governor, fired back

on Thursday night by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Denver against the Fed, demanding “equal access” to the financial system."

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Newsjock.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Yeah, NOW they regulate.

[Uncle Joe]

4. I wonder if Bank of America and Wells Fargo still have their master accounts?

They have perfected the strategy of working both ends against the middle.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-06-29/banks-financing-mexico-s-drug-cartels-admitted-in-wells-fargo-s-u-s-deal

Banks Financing Mexico Drug Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal

This was no isolated incident. Wachovia, it turns out, had made a habit of helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo & Co., which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers -- including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine.

(snip)

Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. That’s the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in U.S. history -- a sum equal to one-third of Mexico’s current gross domestic product.

“Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” says Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor who handled the case.

Since 2006, more than 22,000 people have been killed in drug-related battles that have raged mostly along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border that Mexico shares with the U.S. In the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, 700 people had been murdered this year as of mid-June. Six Juarez police officers were slaughtered by automatic weapons fire in a midday ambush in April.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_fargo

Prison industry investment[edit]

Main article: Prison–industrial complex

The GEO Group, Inc., a multi-national provider of for-profit private prisons, received investments made by Wells Fargo mutual funds on behalf of clients, not investments made by Wells Fargo and Company, according to company statements.[70] By March 2012, its stake had grown to more than 4.4 million shares worth $86.7 million.[71] As of November, 2012, the latest SEC filings reveal that Wells Fargo has divested 33% of its dispositive holdings of GEO's stock, which reduces Wells Fargo's holdings to 4.98% of Geo Group's common stock. By reducing its holdings to less than 5%, Wells Fargo will no longer be required to disclose some financial dealings with GEO.[72]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex

The term "prison–industrial complex" (PIC) is used to attribute the rapid expansion of the US inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies.[1] The term is derived from the "military–industrial complex" of the 1950s.[2] Such groups include corporations that contract prison labor, construction companies, surveillance technology vendors, companies that operate prison food services and medical facilities,[3] private probation companies,[3] lawyers, and lobby groups that represent them. Activist groups such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) have argued that the prison-industrial complex is perpetuating a flawed belief that imprisonment is an effective solution to social problems such as homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy.

(snip)

The promotion of prison-building as a job creator and the use of inmate labor are also cited as elements of the prison-industrial complex. The term often implies a network of actors who are motivated by making profit rather than solely by punishing or rehabilitating criminals or reducing crime rates. Proponents of this view, including civil rights organizations such as the Rutherford Institute[5] and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),[6] believe that the desire for monetary gain has led to the growth of the prison industry and the number of incarcerated individuals.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

5. Excellent point...

... I have argued points such as that online for years.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

6. Good...

... this is going to be interesting, the arguments pro and con, in court.

[elias49]

7. Not moving enough money yet?

$2.5 mil for Colorado schools in January or this year.
Medical and recreational marijuana sales taxes collected almost $5 mil in June 2015.
WTF? People have to get the stick out of their butts and grow up about marijuana.
Jeez.

[mwooldri]

8. Can anyone say "hello bitcoin"??? Or some other digital currency?

If the Fed etc., are going to make it hard for the legal cannabis business to bank, then maybe a bank system outside the fed? Or maybe a foreign bank opens up shop? What would stop a foreign bank from opening a branch in Colorado and providing banking services under the laws of that country? Or at least offer credit/debit card services?

Just thinking... of course there should be a legal state financial institution that handles money for the legal cannabis business.