https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/bmo-open-to-more-pot-deals-if-firms-pass-bank-s-tests-ceo-says
-------------------------------------------- Bank of Montreal is open to more deals with cannabis companies, as long as those firms can get past “traps" in the lender’s due-diligence process, Chief Executive Officer Darryl White said. The Toronto-based lender became the first major Canadian bank to arrange a stock sale for a firm tied to pot this month when its capital-markets unit helped lead a C$200.7 million ($163 million) equity financing for Canopy Growth Corp. White, in his first public comments about the deal, called the marijuana producer “a bona-fide business operating within the boundaries of the law.” “This is a transaction for a good client who is focused on medical marijuana in Canada with no nexus to the United States," White, 46, said Thursday in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We put it through the same due diligence process we would any other underwriting." Bank of Montreal is “very conscious” of the regulatory environment in dealing with Canopy, White said, describing the Smiths Falls, Ontario-based producer as “the biggest and, in our mind, most successful company" in the industry. He said the lender would consider similar transactions, as long as they “pass all of the tests.” “We assess every single case with those traps I just described," he said. When asked if the bank plans to take on a bigger role in the marijuana industry, White said, “We’ll have to see." Bank of Montreal is one of the few Canadian banks to provide business accounts to companies in the four-year-old medical marijuana industry, serving about a dozen firms. The industry is exploding as Canada moves toward legalizing pot for recreational use this year. At least 84 companies tied to marijuana are trading on the country’s exchanges with a combined market value of about C$37 billion.--------------------------------------------- Folks,There are people in jail today who are there for processing $100 worth of marijuana. What we now have is the start of the race to become the juggernaut of the pot world. This is the most lucrative industry I can think off as once you sample the merchandise, you become addictive and/or customer for life. I guess big money is talking over the customer base from the $100 dealers.....Mervyn
