American CBA LLC

Financial institutions serving cannabis-related businesses (CRBs) face unusually demanding reporting requirements. As transaction volume grows, manual processes, inconsistent SAR narratives, CTR timing gaps, and unclear ownership can quickly undermine an otherwise sound compliance program. This 60-minute practitioner-led webinar examines how banks can build scalable, consistent, and defensible SAR and CTR workflows that continue to perform through staffing changes, regulatory examinations, and increased program activity.

Presenters Jacob Andolina and Patrick Doty, co-founders and managing partners of Eight Nine Risk & Compliance LLC, will share practical guidance drawn from their experience as Chief Compliance Officers and BSA Officers. They will address CRB-specific SAR narratives, CTR aggregation and filing discipline, escalation procedures, and visible governance structures. The session will also explore responsible uses of AI and automation to improve narrative drafting and transaction identification while preserving human review, data security, and institutional accountability.

After completing this webinar, attendees will be able to:

• Build scalable SAR and CTR workflows that produce consistent, well-documented results.

• Strengthen MRB SAR narratives and reduce common language, accuracy, and timing deficiencies.

• Apply AI and automation responsibly while maintaining human oversight and appropriate data protections.

• Establish defensible governance, escalation, and leadership-reporting practices.

• Identify common MRB program gaps and prepare more effectively for audits and regulatory examinations.

A financial institution’s deposit agreements should have specific clauses governing how and where deposits are to be made, who can make the deposits, restrictions on which types of accounts deposits are to be made,  and what types of accounts cannabis businesses may not be eligible for.  It is also prudent to include a condition that your cannabis customer use your financial institution as your primary depository institution.  Furthermore, it is critical that your deposit agreement include a “bad boy” clause permitting your financial institution to terminate the relationship in the event the cannabis customer falls so significantly out of compliance that termination is the only option if your financial institution is going to fulfill its BSA obligations.  Finally, ensure your jurisdiction and venue clauses are cannabis-friendly.

Likewise, if your financial institution is considering lending to cannabis businesses, it is critical to include specific clauses to mitigate the risks, including the obligation on the part of the cannabis customer to remain in compliance with its state regulatory requirements, the right to call the loan in the event that the cannabis customer falls out of compliance, as well as restrictions on the types of collateral and how the collateral is to be used.  Like your deposit agreements, it is important to ensure your jurisdiction and venue clause are cannabis-friendly.

Specific Areas Addressed

• Critical elements to include in cannabis deposit agreements

• Critical elements to include in cannabis loan agreements

• Regulation CC requirements and your financial institution’s cash-handling procedures

Takeaways

• The importance of including provisions in your agreements to mitigate your risks if thinking about cannabis financing

• The importance of including provisions in your deposit agreements in order to appropriately manage the deposit process

• The importance of including provisions in your deposit and loan agreements to ensure an appropriate return on your cannabis banking program.