Cannabis Weekly Round-Up: Year-End Push for US Banking Reform

Final chance in 2022 for US cannabis reform

It’s been a stressful end-of-year period for cannabis investors. The market continues to watch for banking reform in the US to potentially make it across the finish line before the current session of Congress comes to an end.

Several recent attempts to push critical cannabis policies through have met with tragic endings.

Now, as Congress nears the end of its term, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is making a final effort to move forward with banking reform, this time trying to attach it to an omnibus funding package.

The senator has shared a revised version of the legislation with key Republican members of the Senate, and according to a Politico report, the new version will be discussed over the weekend on December 17 and 18.

“I think everybody — activists, industry people — got pretty excited at the prospect,” Adam Goers, senior vice president of corporate affairs with Columbia Care (NEO:CCHW,CSE:CCHW,OTCQX:CCHWF), told MJBizDaily about an earlier attempt to pass banking reform. “It’s certainly disappointing it didn’t turn out that way.”

Industry stakeholders are now once again hoping for political progress to provide some relief to the cannabis industry.

Ex-CannTrust execs acquitted in wrongdoing case

Three former CannTrust executives were acquitted this past week in Ontario from charges related to the biggest unlicensed growing scandal in the Canadian cannabis industry.

In a surprising reversal, the three executives previously charged with various fraud and insider trading charges — Peter Aceto, Eric Paul and Mark Litwin — were exonerated after the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) case went up in smoke.

The OSC's arguments came tumbling down after Graham Lee, a former CannTrust director of quality and compliance, was cross examined by one of the defendants’ lawyers.

Lee admitted to being confused by Health Canada’s cannabis licensing policies and discussed how CannTrust's licenses at the time were not specific about growing rooms in the company's Ontario facility.

The OSC told the Canadian Press it’s "considering the implications of the decision and assessing its options."

Cannabis company news

• Jushi Holdings (CSE:JUSH,OTCQX:JUSHF) closed a private offering with an additional US$3 million, allowing the firm to reach US$72 million in gross cash proceeds.

• Green Thumb Industries (CSE:GTII,OTCQX:GTBIF) confirmed the appointment of four executive leadership positions and one new board member.

• Agrify (NASDAQ:AGFY) launched an underwritten public offering of shares with no confirmed financial target. The total sum will go towards “working capital and general corporate purposes.”

• The Valens Company (NASDAQ:VLNS,TSX:VLNS) received a 180 day extension by the NASDAQ to regain the stock exchange's minimum US$1 bid price requirement. The firm now has until June 12, 2023, to regain compliance with the rules.