The cooperative was incorporated by a diverse board, including a Denver City Council member, cannabis industry advocates and business leaders, he said.

Abiding by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network banking guidelines for state-licensed marijuana businesses is a complex task.

In New Mexico, some credit unions recently shut down cannabis-related accounts and state regulators are advising others to steer clear.

But Colorado is coordinating its efforts with regulatory officials in Washington, where some credit unions and banks have opened accounts for legal marijuana businesses, Myklebust said.

Fourth Corner's next step is to obtain a master account from the Federal Reserve System and to obtain share deposit approval from the NCUA, Mason said.

Although it might take up to two years for NCUA to review the application, state law allows state-chartered credit unions to operate during the interim, he said.

If NCUA denies the deposit insurance coverage, the credit union could liquidate, merge with another credit union or push for a change in state law allowing it to operate under private deposit insurance, he said.

The NCUA review process should be more straightforward since a functioning credit union will be in place, he said.

The credit union's (multiple association, common bond) field of membership will include individuals and businesses with marijuana-related legal licenses, along with their employees.

In addition, individuals and businesses can become a member of Fourth Corner by joining (for a small fee) a select group of trade associations and charitable organizations, including the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, National Cannabis Industry Association and Rocky Mountain Hemp Association.

"The associations represent persons and organizations bound together by the common bond of support for the legalization of marijuana," Mason said.

Initially, Fourth Corner CU will only serve Colorado residents and businesses, he said.

"We will perfect operations in Colorado, where the state has implemented responsible seed-to-sale regulation," he said. "The state regulatory environment is critical to the provision of banking services."

"It takes a person with elevated business acumen to meet state requirements to obtain and maintain a license," Mason said. "Criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels have no pace in this regulatory environment."

"If a person is involved in a criminal enterprise, gang or cartel, the Fourth Corner Credit Union would be a bad place for them to bring their dirty money," he said. "We will detect such conduct and deal with it strictly in accordance with AML and BSA requirements."

"We will not let dirty money contaminate this industry's credit union," he continued. "Our members will not allow such conduct as this industry represents a culture of regulatory compliance. This has been fostered by the way the State of Colorado has regulated cannabis."

Mason would not divulge how many prospective depositors are expected, although that number had to be disclosed in the charter application.

A location for the credit union has been identified and organizers hope to finalize a lease soon, Mason said.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed legislation into law June 6 that will allow marijuana businesses to form financial cooperatives, but will explicitly forbid them from calling themselves credit unions.

But Fourth Corner CU is not relying on that law, but the planned credit union has received Hickenlooper's support, Mason said.

"We're taking an entirely different approach," he said. "We've had a huge legal team, risk management and compliance experts, researching this for months and we've come up with something we believe will work."

The initiative has received support from Hickenlooper, according to Mason and the national media.

"We've met with the Governor and he's given his support for what we're doing," Mason said.

Mason said the board members of Fourth Corner Credit Union include a Colorado Springs advocate for the medical uses of hemp oil for children with epilepsy, a disabled veteran with the nonprofit Project Wounded Ego, the co-owner of a Denver public affairs consultancy, a Denver real estate broker, the co-founder of a Denver medical marijuana dispensary, and the executive director of a Colorado Springs nonprofit that assists patients with epilepsy, cancer and other conditions.

Fourth Corner CU's application for charter has been under review by the Colorado Division of Financial Services since April, Commissioner Myklebust said.

"We didn't look at this specifically as being a marijuana credit union, we evaluated this with the same criteria and due diligence that we would any application for charter," he said."We looked at the business plan and whether they're going to be able to raise enough money to start a financial institution and whether they have the correct team and proper protocol in place to keep up with all the compliance requirements."

Last week's approval was the first state credit-union charter issued in almost a decade, the division said.

Although the charter itself is a public record, the application for the charter, and supporting materials, such as a list of a board of directors or business plan, are not public record, under Colorado law, Myklebust said.