Transparency in cannabis regulatory data is essential to a financial institution’s ability to comply with federal guidance and regulatory expectations while continuing to provide banking services to Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs). By enhancing transparency, regulators can support a framework that fosters responsible financial participation in the cannabis industry.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, provides specific guidance for financial institutions serving CRBs. Among other requirements, institutions must:
- Verify and review cannabis license information.
- Assess and periodically refresh business information as part of customer due diligence.
- Track information regarding the business and related parties (owners) on an ongoing basis.
- Monitor for enforcement actions and other adverse information.
“Transparency matters because it helps financial institutions make more efficient and confident compliance decisions, and that helps expand access to banking for legitimate CRBs and ultimately bring down costs,” said CRB Monitor founder and CEO Steven Kemmerling.
Key Takeaways in 2026
Now in its third year, CRB Monitor’s 2026 Cannabis Regulatory Data: Transparency Scorecard shows meaningful progress across several jurisdictions.
- Six agencies earned perfect scores: Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and, joining the list in 2026, Washington.
- Thirteen jurisdictions improved their scores: The largest score increases came from Kentucky and Minnesota, each improving by five points. Pennsylvania improved by four points, and D.C. improved by three.
- Two new jurisdictions: Nebraska entered with a comparatively strong score, reflecting solid access to core regulatory data, while the U.S. Virgin Islands remains in an earlier stage of implementation with relatively little data available.
Even with many improvements nationally, the results show there is still significant room for increased transparency.
Ownership transparency still lags behind business and license transparency in many jurisdictions.
A growing number of agencies now make basic business and license information publicly available, but ownership data remains less consistent and, in many cases, more difficult to access or verify. Enforcement data presents a different challenge.
While approximately two-thirds of regulators have at least some enforcement-related information available, enforcement actions differ significantly across jurisdictions in type, detail, terminology, and timing of public disclosures. Greater access to enforcement information across the full regulatory lifecycle gives financial institutions a more complete picture of history and risk.
Transparency is strongest when agencies are regularly updating the data.
Regulatory data is most useful when it is current and supported by systems that make it easier to pull, publish, and maintain over time. Having automated internal systems can improve data freshness, reduce administrative burden, and make transparency more sustainable over the long term.
Furthermore, transparency is not just about whether information is available, but also whether it is easy to find, retrieve, and interpret. Some strong scores still depend on pulling data from multiple sources or relying on public records requests, which do not present a complete picture.
“We continue to see real progress, especially where agencies are publishing more complete license and ownership data, but the biggest gaps are still around consistency and usability,” said Jill Seaks, who leads CRB Monitor’s data team.
Conclusion
Access to reliable, current regulatory and business information is essential to the industry’s ability to access banking services. Financial institutions need confidence in the licensing, ownership, and compliance status of the businesses they serve.
Ultimately, CRB Monitor bridges the gap between the cannabis industry, financial institutions, and regulators, creating a more transparent, compliant, and well-regulated marketplace.
CRB Monitor helps financial institutions safely and responsibly serve cannabis-related businesses by providing regulatory and compliance intelligence that supports customer due diligence, monitoring, and risk management. Contact us to learn more: sales@crbmonitor.com
