Federal Employee Leaves Position at Federal Reserve for Cannabis Job

Dante Tosetti left a prominent position as federal bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to join Privateer Holdings. Tosetti’s career change signals a shift in the growing industry that’s becoming more and more transparent. Privateer Holdings is behind Marley Natural, cannabis producer Tilray and Peter Thiel’s firm the Founders Fund. Privateer hopes to bridge the gap between the banking system and the cannabis sector.

Tosetti’s new position is director of Treasury compliance for Privateer Holdings. He will oversee compliance and financial relationships for the company. One of Tosetti’s primary tasks will be to convince banks to work with the legal cannabis industry.

“There are a number of banks that have a footprint in places that are already inundated with the cannabis industry, where they’re making it peripheral to their businesses when it could really be a part of their client base,” Mr. Tosetti said. “My goal is to change the misconception that servicing the cannabis industry is a compliance burden for banks.”

Brendan Kennedy, the chief executive of Privateer Holdings, says he’s been in a room with a million dollars in cash. Any time there is that much money, safety becomes a major issue.

Mr. Tosetti isn’t the first federal employee that Privateer Holdings has converted. Patrick Moen, Privateer Holdings’ director of compliance and general counsel, was a former DEA agent. “The all-cash nature of the industry creates not only an administrative burden and an unfair stigma but also presents a public-safety risk,” said Moen. Moen joined Privateer in 2013.

Privateer hopes they have chosen the right player this time. By adding Mr. Tosetti’s experience with the Federal Reserve to the table, Privateer hopes to finally come up with a solution to getting banks to cooperate with legitimate cannabis businesses.