A wing of the U.S. Treasury Department is planning to gather data from banks on marijuana businesses as part of its money-laundering risk oversight.
According to a notice published this week in the Federal Register, the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) plans to begin collecting the data on cannabis businesses from banks later this year.
The action will follow a public comment period that ends Aug. 8.
“As new products and services are introduced, existing products and services change, and banks expand through mergers and acquisitions, banks’ evaluation of money laundering and terrorist financing risks should evolve as well,” according to the notice.
The OCC already monitors other industries it considers at risk of money laundering, such as liquor, jewelry and convenience stores.
The notice goes on to assert that the OCC’s money-laundering risk assessment is designed to “better identify those institutions, and areas within institutions, that may pose heightened risk and allocate examination resources accordingly.”
“This risk assessment is critical for protecting U.S. financial institutions of all sizes from potential abuse from money laundering,” the notice states.
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The marijuana sector was among six relatively new industries added to the OCC list, including ATM operators and crypto assets.
The marijuana industry’s addition was first reported by Marijuana Moment.
