Jonathan Bench

Jonathan is chair of Harris Bricken’s corporate practice group, where he helps public and private companies with international and domestic business transactions. His clientele includes companies from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Jonathan has worked and consulted in the U.S., Asia, and South America and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.

He is an emerging blockchain legal expert and enjoys developing international legal strategies with promising web3 projects.

SEC Rule 504 Exemptions in Cannabis Offerings

Are 504 Private Placement Security Offerings Allowed in Cannabis Businesses?

We’ve written regularly about the plight of cannabis businesses not being able to secure traditional lending (and other financial services) from major, federally regulated institutions. In this post, we dive deeper into a promising federally regulated equity offering as an alternative funding means: Rule 504 under Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Regulation D. Why aren’t

cannabis pesticide testing

La nueva normativa de Washington exige pruebas de plaguicidas en el cannabis

In April 2022, new Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) cannabis pesticide testing final rules took effect. Under the rules, cannabis flower and intermediate products must undergo contaminant testing. The rationale for the is consumer safety – which seems like a legitimate concern given that recreational use cannabis producers were previously not required to test

asociaciones cannábicas

Asociaciones para el cannabis

Muchos acuerdos sobre el cannabis acaban en una asociación involuntaria entre las partes. Las palabras "asociación" y "empresa conjunta" se utilizan a menudo de forma casual. Muchos empresarios del cannabis en fase inicial saben que quieren hacer algún tipo de negocio, a menudo con un socio, pero a menudo no saben por qué o cómo evitarlo.

fintechwebcannabis

Top Cannabis FinTech Companies en Web3

Cannabis companies are largely behind the curve in Web3, but in the past few months some top cannabis companies have emerged in the Web3 ecosystem to join the old guard. The connection between cannabis and Web3 may not be apparent at first glance, but both industries are relatively nascent, semi-regulated, and attracting some of the

empresa internacional de cannabis

Empresas internacionales de cannabis

Trabajamos con empresas internacionales de cannabis que operan en EE.UU. y recibimos regularmente consultas de otras que quieren entrar en el mercado estadounidense. Algunas ya venden en el mercado estadounidense a través de un intermediario, como un corredor o un agente de ventas. En Estados Unidos, hay cuatro formas principales de entrar en el mercado

equity compensation cannabis business

Compensación en acciones para empleados del sector del cannabis

Previously we wrote about equity compensation for cannabis employees from the perspective of companies. We have been dealing with more and more companies adding equity to their overall compensation scheme, so now is a good time to revisit it from the employee perspective. For an overview of the types of equity compensation available, see here.

cannabis dao

DAO de cannabis

I wrote recently about cannabis NFTs (see here) and tokenization of cannabis assets (see here). This post covers cannabis DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) within the industry space (“DAO” is pronounced like “dow”). Web3: cannabis DAOs, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and smart contracts If you have been paying attention, you know at least something about Bitcoin, which is

cannabisandwebcrossover

Cruce de Cannabis y Web3: Tokenización

Since launching our Web3 practice group, we have been getting steady inquiries regarding cannabis and web3 crossover. In this post, I focus on the tokenization of cannabis business assets, which often occurs through ICOs (initial coin offerings). This is currently an unsettled area of law in the U.S., and we do not recommend trying to

NFT de cannabis

NFT de cannabis

Every cannabis company has been asking lately how they can start making money from cannabis NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Many of these companies know that NFTs are part of the greater Web3 movement that feels somewhat familiar, especially to marijuana companies. Web3 is in large measure a counterculture movement that pushes back against large institutions that

marijuana business value

Valor comercial del cannabis

I spend a lot of time with business owners discussing their cannabis business value. Often, they come to me when they realize they have a problem with their current or former business partner. We all like to assume our business relationships will continue indefinitely as the venture increases in value and the owners see eye-to-eye