When it comes to cannabis stocks in North America, it’s a very strange dynamic as to which companies can be listed on certain exchanges, funds and indices.

Due to the ongoing federal marijuana ban in the U.S., U.S.-based marijuana companies cannot list their shares on certain default U.S. exchanges.

Instead, U.S. cannabis companies are either listed in U.S. over-the-counter stocks with different requirements, or in the U.S. Canadian Exchange.

Ironically, Canadian cannabis companies are allowed to list on some default U.S. exchanges because of the funky rules currently in place.

Until things change, larger U.S. cannabis will continue to flock to Canadian exchanges, and recent events will make it an even more attractive option.

Advanced level Stock Exchange

According to an interview BloombergAs much as 80 percent of the roughly $31.6 billion in industry market value custodial by the CSE is made up of U.S. companies, said Richard Carlton, chief executive of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Carleton announced the creation of a new “premium tier” that will help companies and others looking to gain favorable listings on Canadian exchanges.

The proposal would allow securities of U.S. cannabis companies to be held in margin accounts, but would still require regulatory approval.

Building a high-level would lower the cost of capital for small cannabis companies and increase their chances of being included in a Canadian U.S. small-cap or mid-cap index.

The proposal will obviously help cannabis companies that cannot list on domestic exchanges, and it will also help global investors by giving them greater access to more investment opportunities in the cannabis industry.

The changing stock landscape

Clearly, the U.S. will eventually end its ban on marijuana at the federal level, which will be a tectonic shift at some point.

While exactly when it will happen is debatable, the policy shift is inevitable, and once it happens, it will have a huge impact on the entire global cannabis industry.

If it were assumed to happen today, most, if not all, U.S. cannabis companies would leave FX and list on the largest U.S. exchange.

However, this move by the Canadian stock exchange is aimed at getting out of the shift as early as possible.

If U.S.-based cannabis companies can now find a home in forex and favorable funds and indexes, and those funds and indexes become very popular, maybe some will stick around.

That could depend on how long it takes for the U.S. to end the federal ban. At the current rate, it may take a while.