The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp and its derivatives from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, allowing it to be produced in the United States under industrial hemp pilot provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a legal opinion interpreting the 2018 Farm Bill and is currently working on establishing regulations and guidelines for legal hemp production beyond the 2014 Farm Bill.
On Monday, August 19, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released interim guidance for federally-insured credit unions wishing to provide financial services for legally-operating hemp businesses in the United States.
NCUA is an independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress in 1970 to insure deposits at federally-insured credit unions, protect their members and charters, and regulate federal credit unions.
“Lawful hemp businesses provide exciting new opportunities for rural communities,” said NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood in a press release. “I believe today’s interim guidance keeps with the mission of the nation’s cooperative credit system to serve people who have been overlooked and underserved.”
According to the guidance, credit unions are not required to submit suspicious activity reports for legal hemp businesses as they must do with non-hemp cannabis businesses unless there is actual suspicious activity taking place such as money laundering.
Credit unions are still required to maintain appropriate due diligence for hemp-related accounts and comply with Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering rules.
The new guidance states that credit unions may also provide loans to lawfully-operating hemp-related businesses in accordance with NCUA regulations.
“Many credit unions have a long and successful history of providing services to the agriculture sector,” said Hood. “My expectation is that credit unions will thoughtfully consider whether they are able to safely and properly serve lawfully operating hemp-related businesses within their fields of membership.”
The new interim guidance will be updated as needed and after regulations and guidelines are finalized by the USDA.
