On June 10, 2016, Governor Hickenlooper signed bill 16-040 which removes the Colorado two year residency requirement to obtain a marijuana business owner license, ultimately easing the burden for prospective out-of-state investors to become owners. The Colorado General Assembly’s intent in creating this bill was to provide marijuana businesses with the economic capabilities to grow their operations and remain competitive in the marijuana marketplace. Below is a quick review of Colorado’s history of licensing requirements for marijuana business owners, and a summary of the licensing requirements after the enactment of this new law.
Changes to the Requirements for Owners of a Licensed Marijuana Business
Colorado’s marijuana laws have been notoriously opposed to allowing out-of-state residents to own Colorado marijuana businesses. Until recently, Colorado required prospective marijuana business owners to be a two year resident of Colorado prior to their license application. Ultimately, prospective out-of-state investors, who did not meet this requirement and could not own a stake in the business, were deterred from investing. Over time, the Colorado General Assembly has become more tolerant of out-of-state investors, evidenced by the creation of a new class of ownership called Permitted Economic Interest (“PEI”). The PEI allowed out-of-state investors a formalized process for investing in cannabis businesses—— through convertible notes or options to purchase equity of a licensed marijuana business—— while still requiring Colorado residency for two years for marijuana business ownership.
However, prospective out-of-state investors are no longer required to be Colorado residents for two years before applying for a marijuana business owner license. The Colorado General Assembly, with the enactment of this new bill 16-040, has created a new distinction of ownership: Direct Beneficial Interest Owner. A Direct Beneficial Interest Owner is an individual or closely held business entity that owns equity shares of stock in a marijuana business. The requirements for an individual are: Colorado residency for one year prior to the date of the license application; or United States citizenship prior to the date of the license application. Before applying for this new type of ownership, prospective out-of-state investors must first request a finding of suitability from the State Licensing Authority, . If the investor receives a suitability confirmation then he or she may apply to become a Direct Beneficial Interest Owner. For a closely held business entity, the new law requires that it must consist entirely of United States citizens prior to the date on the license application.
This new bill places certain restrictions on marijuana businesses in relation to Direct Beneficial Interest Owners. Marijuana businesses can be comprised of an unlimited number of Direct Beneficial Interest Owners who have been Colorado residents for at least one year prior to the license application. But, marijuana businesses comprised of one or more than one Direct Beneficial Interest Owner Direct Beneficial Interest Owners, who lack one year of Colorado residency prior to the date on the license application, must have at least one officer who meets the requirement of Colorado residency for one year. Further, bill 16-040 restricts marijuana businesses from being made up of more than fifteen Direct Beneficial Interest Owners, when the business consists of one or more Direct Beneficial Interest Owners who do not meet the requirement of Colorado residency for one year. These limits aren’t set in stone going forward as the MED may increase the number of allowable Direct Beneficial Interest Owners above fifteen if the increase is supported by: developments in state and federal financial regulations, market conditions, and the business’s ability to access legitimate sources of capital.
Marijuana businesses may also include Qualified Institutional Investors who own 30% or less of the business, Bill 16-040 defines an institutional investor as:
- A Bank
- An Insurance Company
- An Investment Company
- An Investment Adviser
- Collective Trust Funds
- An Employee Benefit Plan or Pension Fund
- A State or Federal Government Pension Plan
- Any other entity identified by the MED
However, the MED has the right to conduct an initial background check on any prospective investor.
What does this mean?
Colorado has clearly made the right step in permitting outside investment into the state regulated marijuana industry. While the regulations implementing them are yet to be adopted (i.e. does an institutional investor or its owners/officers/directors need to be background checked, fingerprinted, etc.) there is a path for out of state investors as well as regulated funds or banks to be able to participate. As always, the devil will be in the details and we will not know how this will be implemented until the regulations are finalized and adopted later this year.