The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) has called on over-the-counter (OTC) clearinghouse Clearstream to shield five CBD companies who are in danger of losing post-trading services managed by the Luxembourg firm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Börse.
More than 100 other cannabis companies are already excluded from a recently announced Clearstream provision that would stop the deposit of shares, due to take effect Sept. 28, 2018, by putting settlement restrictions on “companies primarily, directly or indirectly, active in the field of medical cannabis.”
Outdated cannabis laws
Industry sources say the changes at Clearstream were caused by recently updated guidelines from the local controlling authority, the Commission de Surveillance Financier (CSSF), that are based on outdated cannabis laws in Luxembourg.
The five companies mentioned in the EIHA letter to the Deutsche Börse are Naturally Splendid Enterprises, New Age Farm, Inc., Nutritional High International Inc., all of Canada; and CannaVEST Corp. and CV Sciences, Inc., both of the USA.
Products meet THC limits
“The companies . . . solely work with industrial hemp. Their range of products comprises food products made from industrial hemp (seeds) and/or neutraceuticals of hemp protein or cannabidiol (CBD), which is a non-psychoactive substance and therefore is not subject of the narcotic laws in European Countries (including Luxembourg),” EIHA wrote in the letter, noting several of the firms make products that are already on the market and are established as “medical” or “medicinal” in nature.
The Association also pointed out that products made by the companies are under the 0.3% THC limits observed by U.S. and Canadian producers.
Clearinghouses such as Clearstream are integral to trading on the OTC markets, providing post-trading services critical to trade confirmation and connecting counter parties internationally.
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