Multiple financial regulatory agencies have given clearance to the banking industry to work with hemp producers.

Saying that banks are no longer required to file a suspicious activity report for customers solely because they grow or cultivate hemp, the regulators explained that banks may still choose which types of services or accounts they offer to producers of hemp.

“When deciding to serve hemp-related businesses, banks must comply with applicable regulatory requirements for customer identification, suspicious activity reporting, currency transaction reporting and risk-based customer due diligence,” the notice reads, “including the collection of beneficial ownership information for legal entity customers.”

The organizations that signed on to the guidelines included the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

The announcement followed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s release of an interim final rule this fall governing the regulation of hemp production. The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp as a Schedule I controlled substance. Hemp must contain no more than 0.3% THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana at much higher concentrations.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet praised the announcement, saying that “the hemp industry is booming in Colorado and across the country, yet hemp-related businesses continue to face significant hurdles due to the lack of access to the banking system.”

He added:”These new guidelines are a significant step forward in providing banks and credit unions with the assurance and clarity needed to remove this barrier and open their doors to the growing hemp industry.”

The Colorado Sun reported in October that growers planted 80,000 acres of hemp in the state within the past year.