Clearing Banks Association chairman Gowon Bowe has warned that Bahamian commercial banks will struggle to provide services to cannabis-related businesses under existing banking rules, particularly those tied to the United States and the United Kingdom. Mr Bowe said major US banks prohibit transactions with financial institutions involved in the marijuana industry. He said that creates a serious hurdle for The Bahamas, whose banking system relies heavily on US correspondent banks for international transactions.

“The United States, which is the largest clearing jurisdiction for The Bahamas because most of our transactions clear in the United States dollars, really has not changed the federal law relative to marijuana, and therefore is considered an illegal substance,” he noted yesterday.

“Accordingly, all of major banks in the United States, the Tier one correspondent banks — Citibank, JP Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — they prohibit transacting with financial institutions that bank any persons engaged in the marijuana industry

“When we put that into context, while in The Bahamas, the laws and regulations may permit the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana, the financial transactions associated with that activity are still not going to be permissible to be banked in the Bahamian banking system, because the Bahamian banking system still relies on the US banking system in order to facilitate its credit card payments, to facilitate its international wires outgoing and incoming in order to facilitate commerce and trade.”