Marijuana Moment reports
The U.S. Treasury Department is proposing to start collecting data on marijuana businesses from banks—alongside industries it already tracks like liquor stores, convenience stores, casinos and car dealers—as part of its ongoing efforts to combat money laundering activities.
In another sign that the federal government is gradually recognizing the legitimacy of the cannabis market being legalized in a growing number of states, Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) posted a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday saying it plans to track marijuana businesses as part of an annual Risk Summary Form (RSF) that needs to be filed by financial institutions.
“RSF collects data about different products, services, customers, and geographies (PSCs),” the notice says, adding that the agency intends to start gathering data from banks on “marijuana-related businesses” for the first time, in addition to other markets of emerging interest such as crypto assets and ATM operators.
OCC said that its Money Laundering Risk System “enhances the ability of examiners and bank management to identify and evaluate” risks that are “associated with banks’ products, services, customers, and locations.”
With the emergence of new products and services, “banks’ evaluation of money laundering and terrorist financing risks should evolve as well.” Therefore, by making these changes to its data collection process, the agency said it will be better able to “identify those institutions, and areas within institutions, that may pose heightened risk and allocate examination resources accordingly.”
A public comment period on the proposed changes is open through August 8.
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