Vincentian lawyer Saboto Caesar credited in St Kitts cannabis banking breakthrough
28 October 2026
By Admin. Updated 10:05 a.m., Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Vincentian attorney Saboto Caesar is being credited with playing a pivotal role in a breakthrough that will allow licensed medicinal cannabis businesses in St Kitts and Nevis to use the formal banking system.
In a press release dated Tuesday 27 October, the St Kitts and Nevis Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA) described Caesar as a lawyer and an expert in banking and finance law. It said he was retained to provide strategic legal advice.
The Authority credited Caesar’s commitment and his years of experience in cannabis banking across the Caribbean, particularly the Eastern Caribbean. It said this experience was pivotal to reaching what it called a landmark achievement.
According to the MCA, his work helped to move critical discussions forward and brought specialised industry knowledge to the process. He also helped to develop the practical pathways that eventually led to banking access for the sector.
Mr. Caesar, a former Minister of Agriculture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was instrumental in creating the legal framework for the establishment of SVG’s medicinal cannabis industry in 2018/2019.
What was achieved
The MCA in St. Kitts and Nevis said a major local bank is prepared to accept proceeds from, and provide services to, licensed medicinal cannabis businesses. Those businesses must operate within the Authority’s regulations and supervisory framework.
The announcement followed what the MCA described as extensive engagements with financial institutions, regulators and compliance professionals. The Authority said that on Tuesday, it and a legal consultant held a successful meeting with the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank.
Banking has long been a stumbling block for cannabis operators in the region. Without it, businesses struggle to open accounts, pay staff or show investors a clean paper trail. The MCA said licensed operators will now have access to deposits, business accounts, payroll management and other essential financial services.
“A defining moment”
The Authority’s Chief Executive Officer, Nadiv Mills, called the development a turning point for the industry.
“The successful integration of medicinal cannabis businesses into the formal banking system is a defining moment for our industry,” Mills said.
He said the move reflected the confidence financial institutions have in the MCA’s regulatory framework. In his view, it also showed that operators can meet high standards of transparency, governance and oversight.
Others recognised
The MCA also credited Minister Samal Duggins for consistently stressing that a compliant banking framework was critical to the industry’s growth. It said the MCA Board had carried out that mandate effectively.
Growers IQ and Steve Maximay were thanked for technical help with the industry’s track-and-trace system. Under the law, that system has to be in place before the industry can open.
The Authority also thanked local banks, including their executives, compliance departments and risk management staff, for what it called constructive and forward-thinking engagement.
More talks ahead
The MCA said the arrangement should give investors greater certainty. It believes the move strengthens the Federation’s position as an emerging regional leader in medicinal cannabis, covering research, cultivation, manufacturing and patient-focused healthcare.
Talks already under way with other banks and credit unions will continue over the coming weeks, the Authority said.
“St Kitts and Nevis is open for business,” it declared.
The development is likely to draw keen interest at home. St Vincent and the Grenadines set up its own medicinal cannabis industry under 2018 legislation, and many operators across the Eastern Caribbean have faced the same struggle for access to banking.
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