The decision of whether a Colorado credit union created just for the marijuana industry can open its doors ultimately could come from the nation’s top financial policymakers.

Although the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., typically does not involve itself with local issues handled by the nation’s 12 regional reserve banks, a bank solely for marijuana money appears to be a different matter.

Whether the state-chartered Fourth Corner Credit Union gains a critical master account to operate is a determination already removed from bureaucratic hands at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the regional banking home of several states, including Colorado, according to several people familiar with the process.

“It would be no surprise to us that the Fed would thoroughly review this, because any decision it makes has national ramifications,” said Jenifer Waller, vice president of the Colorado Bankers Association. [Read more at the Denver Post]