New guidance to banks that wish to provide financial services to
hemp-related businesses was released on December 3, 2019. The
statement was jointly issued by several key federal banking
regulators, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency and the Conference of State Bank
Supervisors. The purpose of the statement is to provide clarity on
the legal status of commercial hemp and the legal obligation of
banks under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and relevant
anti−money laundering (AML) laws.
The stimulus for this new guidance was the issuance on October
31, 2019, of an interim final rule by the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) for its Domestic Hemp Production Program.
Upon issuance of the interim rule, the USDA now may proceed with
review and approval of state and tribal hemp plans. Although
