Cannabis Industry Sues Canadian Banks – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

The cannabis industry is suing Canadian banks.

Canada’s legal cannabis industry has filed a class action lawsuit against Canada’s major banking cartel. They accuse the banks of discriminating against them by arbitrarily closing accounts and refusing services and access to credit.

Included in the class action lawsuit are “any person or entity doing business, directly or indirectly, with the major defendant banks and who has been involved in the legal cannabis industry as of October 17, 2018,” the press release said.

The class action lawsuit targets National Bank, Bank of Montreal, TD Bank, Royal Bank, CIBC and Desjardins Group.

details of the lawsuit

On February 7, 2023, Gabriel Bélanger of Origami Extractions Inc. filed the class action lawsuit with attorneys at Groupe SGF.

Groupe SGF is a group of lawyers specializing in corporate, commercial, indigenous and labor law. They also offer legal expertise in the cannabis industry.

In a statement, Groupe SGF lawyer Maxime Guérin said: “For too long Canadian banks have treated the cannabis industry like pariahs, as if it were still entirely illegal. In doing so, they deprive the Canadian, but above all the local economy, of the development of a promising market.”

Groupe SGF encourages others to come forward. As a class action, anyone who meets the criteria to be part of the class action (i.e. anyone who has been harmed in the same way by the same defendant) is eligible to join the action and participate in any settlement or arbitration arising out of the case .

In this case, however, you do not have to register to be part of the target group.

According to Groupe SGF, all licensed producers, third-party dealers, sellers of attachments or even people who make fertilizers are eligible to participate.

Why do banks hate cannabis?

American banks won’t even get close to cannabis in the legal states. This leads to the Federal Reserve becoming the largest money launderer in the country as it deals directly with the quasi-legal industry. It’s a situation that many expect legislation to fix.

But Canada legislated the legalization of cannabis in 2018. So why aren’t Canadian banks treating the industry fairly?

“Our banks won’t touch us because they’re afraid of making Americans mad at them,” George George Smitherman told CLN over the phone. George is President and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada (C3), an industry lobby group.

“Until they get their banking straight, our banks are too frightened because of their exposure to the US that they utterly lack courage.”

Smitherman says even the banking services for C3 are outrageous. “They’re charging us an extra $1,000 a year because we’re like a rotten industry.”

Cannabis industry is suing Canadian banks

As for the class action, attorneys have filed the motion, but the appeal has yet to be approved as of this writing.

Once it’s through, check back here at CLN for the latest updates and information.