Bahamas: Banks Warn Cannabis Sector Will Hit US Correspondent Wall

As of June 2026, the Bahamas is closer to opening its cannabis licensing portal than at any point since the Cannabis Bill 2024 was tabled. The country’s banking sector has used the same week to warn that none of it will work the way most patients, applicants, or visitors expect.

On 4 June, Clearing Banks Association chairman Gowon Bowe told the Tribune that Bahamian commercial banks cannot service cannabis-related businesses under existing US and UK correspondent-banking rules. He named four Tier-one correspondents: Citibank, JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. “They prohibit transacting with financial institutions that bank any persons engaged in the marijuana industry,” Bowe said. “There’s no commercial bank that can feasibly ring-fence this activity.”

The warning landed two days after Cannabis Authority chairman Lynwood Brown said the regulator expected to roll out its licensing platform before the end of June, having signed a tracking agreement with Metrc. The Authority confirmed in late April that its seed-to-sale platform was already built, with applications waiting on the post-election government.

Why the Bahamas Is Particularly Exposed

The Bahamian dollar is not globally traded, and the country’s international transactions move through US correspondent banks. Bowe described that as a structural problem: cannabis revenue cannot be cleanly separated from the same US dollar pipes the rest of the economy depends on. He pointed to Jamaica as the cautionary example. Despite a decade of regulatory build-out under the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015, much of the Jamaican industry still runs on cash.

Bowe said there have been no substantive discussions between the banking sector and policymakers on how cannabis businesses would be banked. He floated European institutions and credit unions as possible alternatives, while noting that either path puts those entities at risk of losing their own US correspondent relationships.

What This Means

For travelers, the practical answer in 2026 is that nothing changes today. Cannabis remains illegal under the Dangerous Drugs Act in Nassau, Paradise Island, and across the Out Islands. Cruise passengers and arrivals at Lynden Pindling International still face active enforcement.

When the licensing portal does open later this year, Bowe’s warning matters for anyone planning to use a future medical dispensary or pharmacy supply chain. Patients should plan for cash payment. Bahamian applicants and the Pharmaceutical Association will likely need a domestic-only payment workaround, since the Cannabis Bill 2024 requires 100% Bahamian ownership and excludes the foreign-bank partners that would normally solve the problem in other markets.

What to Watch

The next general election is the gating item for the bill itself. After that, the test is whether the incoming government opens a conversation with the Central Bank and the Clearing Banks Association before applications go live, or whether the rollout starts with banking unresolved. Bowe’s public ask was that government and banks talk before the portal opens. As of 4 June 2026, that conversation has not started.