Purpose
This paper aims to illuminate the diverging approaches to marijuana-related drug enforcement at the federal and state levels in the USA, which have facilitated a boom in the US medical cannabis industry (i.e. the “Green Rush”). It further sheds light on how the USA’ aggressive extraterritorial approach to anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement might simultaneously suppress the banking of cannabis-related businesses in Jamaica due to the lingering fear of de-risking.
Design/methodology/approach
An international and comparative legal and policy analysis was conducted of the nexus among shifting drug enforcement policies, AML laws and the banking of cannabis-related businesses.
Findings
This study found that the constitutional relationship between the US federal government and states has created a de facto comparative advantage for the US medical cannabis-related businesses that benefit from limited access to financial services. This was found to pose far-reaching implications for the banking and development of the Jamaican cannabis sector due to the dependence of the country’s financial institutions on correspondent banking relationships with the US banks that are regulated by federal AML statutes.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to examine the extraterritorial regulatory risks to the banking of cannabis-related businesses in Jamaica.
Purpose
This paper aims to map key strategic concerns that Commonwealth Caribbean States will face in combating economic crimes and strengthening financial integrity in the post-pandemic era.
Design/methodology/approach
Horizon scanning was used to conduct a qualitative policy analysis of key regulatory developments in international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFTP) and tax governance, from the perspective of Commonwealth Caribbean countries.
Findings
This paper finds that the COVID-19 pandemic might widen several fault lines, along the Global North/South axis, in international AML/CFTP and tax regulatory governance. These include the “sustainable development” gap in AML/CFTP norm-making; making the Financial Action Task Force fit-for-purpose; renewed campaigns against “harmful tax competition”; and international commitment to scaling up technical assistance to combat economic crimes in developing countries. It questions the sustainability of the prevailing “levelling the playing field” regulatory approach to AML/CFTP and tax matters and whether serious consideration ought not to be given to mainstreaming “differential treatment” in international AML/CFTP and tax standards, for resource-strapped Caribbean countries.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to assess the strategic policy risks and challenges that will arise from balancing economic recovery and fighting economic crimes by small and vulnerable Commonwealth Caribbean States in the post-pandemic era.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.