The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve haven’t given banks assurances that they won’t run afoul of banking regulations that prohibit such deposits under federal law.

No Guidance

The OCC, which supervises 1,620 banks in the U.S., hasn’t issued guidance on how to handle marijuana accounts because it doesn’t encourage or discourage any particular business, said Bryan Hubbard, an agency spokesman.

“We expect banks to assess the risks posed by individual customers on a case-by-case basis,” Hubbard said, adding that it’s the banks’ job to put in the protections they need to manage those ties. When it comes to marijuana banking, agencies including the OCC and FDIC direct banks to Treasury’s guidance. The problem for banks, though, is that the OCC, the Fed and the FDIC supervise them, not the Treasury.

“For banks, the consequences of getting it wrong are pretty serious,” says William Baude, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School. “And all this is happening because there is an absence of statutory authority and guidance from the regulators.”

Spokesmen for the FDIC and Fed declined to comment on the marijuana regulatory situation.

Legal Risks

The cannabis industry is looking to Congress for answers. U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat, introduced legislation last month with 17 co-sponsors that would remove legal risks for banks providing services to the marijuana industry. And in a first this year, senators including Kentucky Republican Rand Paul introduced pot legislation that deals with the risk of federal prosecution for medical-marijuana users in states that have decriminalized the drug. It would also relax financial regulations, allowing banks and credit unions to offer services to the burgeoning industry.

“We need a full, industrywide, sustainable fix for this crisis,” said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Until that happens, the piles of cash will keep growing. When marijuana-related accounts close in Oregon, banks are obliged to deliver cash back to customers in armored trucks because it would be difficult to find another bank to take a check, according to a person familiar with the matter.