By Brett Wolf
ST. LOUIS/NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Although Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use and sale of marijuana with the passage of ballot measures on Tuesday, financial institutions across the country should continue to refuse to do business with marijuana businesses, anti-money laundering experts said.
“If financial institutions are federally licensed or insured, they must comply with federal regulations, and those regulations are clear about conducting financial transactions with money generated by the sale of narcotics,” said Jim Dowling, a former Internal Revenue Service special agent who also acted as an anti-money laundering advisor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. (more…)
