cannabisnews.com: Geithner Urged by Congress for Bank Rules on MMJ
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Geithner Urged by Congress for Bank Rules on MMJ');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/25/thread25687.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Geithner Urged by Congress for Bank Rules on MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on May 24, 2010 at 08:58:56 PT
By Peter Eichenbaum
Source: Bloomberg.com
Bloomberg -- U.S. Representative Barney Frank is among 15 members of Congress pushing the Treasury Department to set rules that would help banks provide financial services to medical marijuana dispensaries.“Legitimate state-legal businesses are being denied access to banking services, which does not serve the public interest,” the lawmakers said in a May 20 letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner that was distributed today by Americans for Safe Access, a patient-advocacy group.
The letter was written by Representative Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat whose state is one of at least 14 that have legalized marijuana for medical use. It asks the Treasury to issue “formal written guidance” assuring banks they won’t be targeted for doing businesses with companies that distribute medical marijuana.Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are among U.S. lenders that have stopped opening new accounts for companies that provide medical marijuana because cannabis consumption and distribution are illegal under federal law. Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams didn’t have an immediate comment.“If states want to make it legal or not, it should be a state matter,” Frank said in a telephone interview today. “It’s wrong for the banks to be told by Treasury they can’t service them the way they would service any other business.”  ‘No Choice’  Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, signed the letter with 12 Democrats and two Republicans, including Representatives Ron Paul of Texas and Dana Rohrabacher of California, where voters in November will decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use.Democrats signing the letter include Sam Farr, Pete Stark, Lois Capps, Brad Sherman, Linda Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren, all of California; Steven Cohen of Tennessee; Jose Serrano of New York; Raul Grijalva of Arizona; Donald Payne of New Jersey; and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.“We really have no choice as long as it’s illegal, especially illegal and unlawful activity as far as money- laundering is concerned,” Shirley Norton, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, said in an interview last month. “We’re not making a moral decision here. We’re really basing it on the law.”Source: Bloomberg.com (USA)Author: Peter EichenbaumPublished: May 24, 2010Copyright: 2010 Bloomberg L.P.Contact: peichenbaum bloomberg.netWebsite: http://www.bloomberg.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/WGxY5DguCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #8 posted by Hope on May 25, 2010 at 09:38:03 PT
"Service" as opposed to "Serve"
"They would however, like to relieve the general public of their investment, IRA, 401k money via innovative financial instruments like Credit Default Swaps, traded on unregulated markets, and used like a corrupt casino rigging the games and betting against the "gamblers", uh, I mean investors - who think they are investing in an honest system."Down here, in the lingo of the farm, bulls service cows and studs service mares. You get your car and your lawn more serviced. The idea of a customer being served, with a service, has a more pleasant and appealing connotation, I think, than them expressing their desire to service people... however realistic that might actually be. Good grief!Yep... don't exactly like the sound of being "Serviced" by the banking industry. They've "Serviced" the whole country more than enough at this point.Just a quibble about the sound of things.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by dongenero on May 25, 2010 at 09:01:58 PT
Banks
Since the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act allowed commercial banks to also be investment banks, they really have little financial interest in anyone's deposit accounts. They would however, like to relieve the general public of their investment, IRA, 401k money via innovative financial instruments like Credit Default Swaps, traded on unregulated markets, and used like a corrupt casino rigging the games and betting against the "gamblers", uh, I mean investors - who think they are investing in an honest system.Instead what we have over the last 10 years is a massive redistribution of wealth to the the elite Wall Street banking class. All specifically engineered with complicity of legislation. Talk about the enemy within!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Hope on May 25, 2010 at 04:21:45 PT
Banks used to want to "Serve" you.
Now they want to "Service" you.There's something I don't like about that apparently simple statement.“It’s wrong for the banks to be told by Treasury they can’t service them the way they would service any other business.”
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Totalrod2 on May 24, 2010 at 18:57:29 PT
Runruff
Congress may now have a "movement"?Yeah, they love to spend money! Sorry, couldn't resist. This is definitely a good thing though.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by EAH on May 24, 2010 at 12:30:32 PT:
Not only that
The local dispensary I worked with had a BofA account when they first opened.
Tellers complained that the cash deposits "smelled". Eventually BofA told them they were closing the account and to go elsewhere. Wells Fargo wouldn't let them open an account.I don't think dispensaries should be giving business to those large banks anyway. Depositor owned credit unions are the best place IMO.A bigger question remains. Tax Law. Everybody in the cannabis production and distribution field has to deal somehow with state and federal income taxes to really be 
legal and legitimate. It presents serious problems as it is now. Having been put through the wringer over tax issues, I speak from experience. It's one of those things that doesn't seem to matter till you are singled out and the rules 
all seem to be stacked against you. Right now there are various tax strategies and rules that favor business but do not apply to cannabis because of the prohibition and the fact that the tax authorities haven't been ordered to get cannabis covered specifically. It's too complicated to explain here but I have a very experienced CPA and he has explained it to me in great detail. Cannabis won't really be legal till ALL tax laws address it as a normal product.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Hope on May 24, 2010 at 12:21:51 PT
Now
the banks want it legal... and for another good reason.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 24, 2010 at 10:33:13 PT
runruff
We really are on a roll. These are exciting times.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by runruff on May 24, 2010 at 09:31:18 PT
I am so curious to watch...
I wonder what will happen in congress now that that butt-cork Souder has removed himself from congresses backside!Congress may now have a "movement"?
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment