More and more talk and questions are coming in on the Marijuana industry. Here are some insights handed down from our home office.
With medical marijuana legal in some states, and some legalizing recreational use of the drug, the cannabis business has been getting a lot of attention, including the attention of scammers. Both FINRA and the SEC have issued alerts to warn investors about the potential for fraud in this industry, as well as the potential risks of investing in thinly traded companies in this sector:
FINRA Alert (http://www.finra.org/investors/alerts/marijuana-stock-scams)
SEC Alert (https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/ia_marijuana.html)
As a reminder, Pershing has instituted the following provisions:
- Pershing will not open any accounts for the benefit of a marijuana-related business or containing assets directly derived from a marijuana-related business, even if regulated at the state level.
- Pershing reserves the right to close any current accounts that it determines are connected to any marijuana-related business, even if regulated at the state level.
- Pershing will not accept the physical deposit or electronic receipt of any securities (stocks, bonds, rights, warrants, etc.) that are issued by any marijuana-related business, even if regulated at the state level.
- Pershing’s policy does not prohibit secondary market trading in securities issued by marijuana-related businesses.
We hope this helps educate and answer some common questions.
HIS Team