Big Banks Want in on the Legal Cannabis Trade

He’s an insider in every sense of the word.

Although you probably have no idea who he is or even what he looks like.

But make no mistake: Rob Nichols is a very powerful man, representing the $18 trillion banking industry as the CEO of the American Bankers Association, an organization he joined after serving as the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Treasury Department during the Bush administration — a position, by the way, that requires Senate confirmation.

Today, however, Nichols is considered one of the most powerful men in Washington, ranked as one of D.C.’s top lobbyists. He’s incredibly well connected, incredibly influential, and is now using his influence and power to legalize marijuana.

Cash Only

You may have heard about it already…

The SAFE Banking Act, or the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, is designed to create protections for banks that provide financial services to cannabis-related businesses.

You see, the cannabis industry is still a “cash-only” industry due to the federal prohibition on cannabis. This is a huge issue when you consider that last year, the industry was valued at about $12 billion and will be worth in excess of $26 billion in just five years. 

Today, there are cannabis dispensary owners that are literally paying their taxes with duffel bags full of cash. You just can’t effectively run and monitor a multibillion-dollar industry without having access to banking services. And this is why the SAFE Banking Act was created. 

Now, I’ve been opining on this for a while, noting that it’s only a matter of time before the banks can start working with the cannabis industry. After all, there’s a lot of scratch at stake here, and don’t think for a second that the banks don’t want a piece of it.  

So it didn’t come as a surprise when, last week, Rob Nichols told an interviewer that his group has been actively lobbying for the bill, noting that financial institutions want in but still worry that by bringing on cannabis clients, they risk federal penalization. 

What did come as a surprise was how fast he predicted it would happen.

Check it out:

This is legislation that already passed in the House Financial Services Committee early in this calendar year by a huge bipartisan margin, and this is something that I predict… as early as September—probably no later than October—will pass the full House of Representatives by a bipartisan majority.

This is one of the most powerful men in the world now predicting that this bill was pass the House — by a bipartisan majority, no later than October.

Folks, this is huge!

This practically legalizes cannabis. 

This Is NOT a Coincidence

While we now know that the most influential lobbyist organization in Washington is backing the passage of the SAFE Banking Act, we also know that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has indicated his support and President Trump has suggested he would sign it.

So let’s take a look at what we have here…

A bipartisan-supported bill, the most powerful banking lobbyist in the world, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and the President of the United States, all signaling their support. 

Anyone who thinks this bill isn’t going to become law is kidding himself.

And to take this one step further, Nichols went on record saying that marijuana banking access is “critically important” and will be “the front-and-center issue” for him when lawmakers return to Washington after the summer recess. 

Meanwhile, investment funds that are also well connected to the banking industry have been increasing their investments into the cannabis industry. This is NOT a coincidence.

Right now, we know that Tribeca Global Natural Resources, the world’s top-performing hedge fund, is in. Poseidon, another hedge fund, has invested $60 million. Tiger Global Management, a $22 billion investment firm, is buying stakes in California pot businesses.

Big money, big banks, big bank lobbyists, and key figures of the Trump administration, including Trump himself, are backing this. And rest assured, when this bill becomes law, U.S. cannabis stocks are going to crush it.

Quite frankly, the biggest hurdle to growth for the cannabis industry thus far has been lack of access to the banks. But once that comes, a rush of capital is going to flow into the cannabis industry at a rate we’ve never seen before — in any industry.

Over the past few years, while the cannabis industry has been minting millionaires by the week, the big banks have had to sit on the sidelines. Don’t think for a second that they’re going to do that anymore. There’s just too much money to be made.

That’s why I’ve already put together a list of the top six pot stocks you can buy now — for pennies — in anticipation of the passage of the SAFE Banking Act.

This is going to happen, and if you’re properly positioned before it happens — which Nichols expects before the end of the year — you could end 2019 with a huge pile of cash. I’m personally already in, and you should be, too.

So here’s a link to more information on the SAFE Banking Act and the six stocks we’re buying now.

The bottom line is that once this passes, a select group of very smart individuals is going to make a lot of money. The question is, will you be a part of this group as well?  

There’s no reason you can’t be.

To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth…

Jeff Siegel

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Jeff is the founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor’s page.

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