Handling Deposits of MRB Staff

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Question:

A dispensary (Marijuana Related Business) just opened this month in town. We have two members (we are a credit union) that receive payroll from there (ACH). - Given their employer, is it illegal for them to bank with us? - Do we need to terminate our relationship with them? Our policy only states for MRB's that we would allow tier 2 and 3. Technically it is an individual, not a business though. Are we allowed to keep them? I know there are SARs we may have to file for MRB's (limited/terminated, etc.). If we keep thee depositors, do we have to file a SAR every 90 days on the individuals as long as they are employed at the dispensary? We understand there is a certain risk having them. There is really no guidance from FinCEN regarding employees of MRB's, just MRB's themselves. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:

The two employees are not MRBs by anyone's definition. You do not need to file MRB SARs on them. You would only file a SAR on them if they do something suspicious, and working for the MRB isn't suspicious.

The reason there is no guidance from FinCEN may be that FinCEN doesn't consider them as requiring any sort of special treatment.