The Grinch That Stole Banking Reform

US banking reform unlikely to go ahead in 2022

It seems all of the last-minute makes an attempt in to go hashish banking reform within the US have finally failed.

Earlier within the week, it was confirmed that hashish laws is not going to be included in a year-end broad spending invoice.

Senate Democrat chief Chuck Schumer positioned the blame squarely on Senate Republicans who blocked makes an attempt to incorporate the Safe and Honest Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.

“We had excellent bipartisan assist. We had hoped to get it performed,” Schumer mentioned, based on a report from Marijuana Second.

Whereas the lawmaker lamented the setback, he mentioned the Democrats hope to return at it once more subsequent 12 months.

In an opinion piece, Erik Altieri, government director of the Nationwide Group for the Reform of Marijuana Legal guidelines, expressed his disappointment that Democratic leaders did not uphold the guarantees they made surrounding significant hashish reform.

Trying forward, Altieri doesn’t sound inspired by the near-term state of affairs for hashish laws in US Congress because of the upcoming management cut up between the decrease and higher homes.

“These situations are actually much less favorable to marijuana reform laws than we had for the final two years,” he wrote.

Over this previous 5 day buying and selling interval, the AdvisorShares Pure US Hashish ETF (ARCA:MSOS), which encompasses US operators, declined in worth by over 20 p.c. In the meantime, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (TSX:HMMJ) had misplaced almost 10 p.c in worth as of Friday (December 23) morning.

The political path of hashish in 2023 will likely be a vital development for buyers to look at.

Consolidation development continues in Canadian hashish market

On Thursday (December 22), MediPharm Labs introduced a plan to amass VIVO Hashish in an all-share settlement.

As soon as the brand new company entity is finalized, present MediPharm shareholders will personal between 65 and 79 p.c of the ensuing agency, whereas VIVO holders will get between 21 and 35 p.c.

VIVO shareholders will obtain between 0.2110 and 0.4267 widespread shares of MediPharm primarily based on every share they personal.

David Pidduck, CEO and director of MediPharm, mentioned the corporate has been searching for M&A alternatives in 2022.

“After we first met with the administration of VIVO, it was instantly obvious that this was a pure match from a method, values, strategy and monetary perspective,” Pidduck mentioned.

For his half, Ray Laflamme, CEO and chairman of VIVO’s board, mentioned he was drawn to “MediPharm as a companion” as a result of its almost C$20 million money place as of Q3.

“As a Mixed Firm we are able to service the small excellent quantity of VIVO debt, proceed worldwide operations and make investments sooner or later to develop the Mixed Firm and obtain profitability earlier than by going at it alone,” he mentioned.

Hashish firm information

• Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON,TSX:CRON)knowledgeable buyers it obtained a discover from Altria Group dated December 16 indicating that the agency’s subsidiary Altria Summit has “relinquished” a warrant for roughly 85 million shares of the hashish agency at a value of C$19 every.

• SNDL (NASDAQ:SNDL)introduced a strategic partnership settlement with Nova Hashish (TSX:NOVC).

• Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX:TBP,OTCQB:TBPMF)issued a regulatory replace on its new drug submission for REDUVO, a soft-gel capsule with THC for chemotherapy sufferers. The agency has obtained a second clarification request for the drug’s risk-management plan from the Canadian regulator.

• Delta 9 Hashish (TSX:DN,OTCQX:DLTNF)introduced the appointment of Stuart Starkey to its board of administrators following the resignation of Joanne Duhoux-Defehr.