EXCLUSIVE: Cannabis Leaders Stress Quality Presentations As ‘Key Determinant’ For Securing Funding
The three biggest issues the cannabis industry faces are the federal tax code 280E, lack of access to banking services, and inaccessibility to federal bankruptcy courts, according to Jennifer Maffett-Nickelman, partner at Thompson Hine.
She kicked off the discussion on how to create fundraising strategies at Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference held last week in Chicago. Other panelists who shared their expertise on this topic include Tony Schor, CEO of Investor Awareness, Paul Weiss, CEO of PaperPlanes and Michael Villapiano, director at Altmore Capital.
Would the Department of Justice’s proposal to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III resolve all these issues? According to Maffett-Nickelman, no, it would not. It would, however, “reset the tax issue, yes, but it’s unlikely to really have a significant impact on the obstacles under the current banking rules, because it’s still going to be illegal under federal law,” she told the crowd gathered in Chicago. Without federal legalization, the industry has to rely on the SAFER Banking Act. This bill would “erase most of the reasons …