The United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) is taking further action to combat corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, tax fraud, and other illicit activities.
Following its Advance Notice of...more
As cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other uses of blockchain technology continue to proliferate, global regulators are grappling with how best to regulate their use. We have previously written about the...more
11/23/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Enforcement ,
FATF ,
Investigations ,
Licensing Rules ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Popular ,
Registration
After a period of astounding growth in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) market, FINRA recently joined the SEC in announcing further scrutiny of broker-dealers and their affiliates involved in SPAC offerings,...more
Even those who are most suspicious of the rise of cryptocurrency will likely admit that the underlying blockchain technology and its potential uses are exciting. One use of this technology, decentralized finance, or DeFi, is...more
9/1/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
BitMEX ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Ether ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Hackers ,
Popular ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Introduction -
The art market is characterised by high-value, portable items that can be bought and exchanged quickly and often confidentially. These features, which make the market inherently vulnerable to many types of...more
8/30/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
HMRC ,
Money Laundering ,
National Crime Agency (NCA) ,
Politically Exposed Person (PEPs) ,
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorism Funding ,
UK
As cryptocurrency’s market cap surpasses the $2.5 trillion mark and continues to climb, global regulators have turned their attention to understanding and addressing the risks surrounding digital assets.
In recent years,...more
7/16/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinCEN ,
Know Your Customers ,
NDAA ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Terrorism Funding
With offerings across a growing number of online platforms and increased trading volume, NFT issuers, promoters, and buyers should consider the legal and regulatory implications relating to NFTs and federal securities laws....more
6/16/2021
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinHub ,
FinTech ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investment Contract ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Smart Contracts
Modernizing FinCEN’s Whistleblower Program Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 -
INTRODUCTION -
Reporting on multiple international money-laundering schemes last year brought public focus to the anti-money...more
5/21/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FinCEN ,
IRS ,
NDAA ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
As NFTs gain popularity, buyers and sellers should consider the potential issues related to federal anti-money laundering laws.
While non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) have existed for several years, the market for NFTs grew...more
5/19/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
FinCEN ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Popular
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act) into law, which provides approximately $1.9 trillion in financial assistance to individuals and industries impacted by COVID-19. The...more
Agriculture & Food Products -
On March 11, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA” or “the Act”),[i] which provides $1.9 trillion in federal funds for a broad array...more
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) is a powerful tool in the prosecutorial arsenal. Due to its long statute of limitations, expansive penalty provision, and low civil burden of...more
3/19/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
CMBS ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FIRREA ,
Fraud ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
SBA ,
U.S. Treasury
With the change of administration in Washington, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or “Bureau”) is widely expected to assume a posture of aggressive enforcement of consumer protection laws. One area that we...more
1/15/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Interest Rates ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Title X
As we wrote over the summer, Congress has passed a bill that will require certain corporations and limited liability companies (“LLCs”) to report information on their beneficial owners to the U.S. Treasury Department’s...more
12/23/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FinCEN ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shell Corporations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Whistleblowers
Every change in presidential administration results in shifts to agencies’ policy priorities and enforcement efforts. In a Biden Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”), in particular,...more
12/18/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Disparate Impact ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
HUD ,
Protected Class ,
Racial Bias
In October of last year, we wrote about the challenges faced by virtual currency businesses in complying with the Travel Rule following new guidance from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Financial Crimes...more
11/5/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FATF ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Proposed Rules ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Travel Rule ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wire Transfers
In the past, sanctioned jurisdictions like Venezuela have embraced virtual currency as a way to bypass channels that involve U.S. dollars, blunting the impact of U.S. economic sanctions policies aimed at isolating those...more
3/12/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Law Enforcement ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
The Travel Rule is an old friend for those familiar with banking regulations and anti-money laundering rules. The Rule, first issued by FinCEN in 1995 with fiat currency in mind, requires banks and nonbank financial...more
10/2/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Security ,
FATF ,
FinCEN ,
Money Services Business ,
New Guidance ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Travel Rule ,
Virtual Currency
The SEC signaled last week that it appears to be growing more comfortable approving certain digital asset activities, qualifying the first two initial coin offerings ever to proceed as registered securities....more
The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), enacted more than fifty years ago, prohibits discriminatory practices in housing. The FHA makes it illegal to “make unavailable or deny . . . a dwelling to any person” or “discriminate against...more
6/20/2019
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HUD ,
Lenders ,
Popular ,
Screening Procedures ,
Technology Sector ,
UDAP
For the past several years, advocates of crypto assets and other public uses of blockchain technology have sought guidance from U.S. regulators regarding the legal implications of new or novel uses of that technology....more
5/21/2019
/ Anonymization ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Wallets ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Services Business ,
New Guidance ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
While SEC FinHub’s new framework announced last week for identifying crypto-securities suggests continued resistance for those using digital assets to access capital markets, an SEC no-action letter issued the same day to...more
4/11/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Capital Markets ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
No-Action Letters ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Regulation A ,
Regulation D ,
Regulation S ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales
Stepping outside of SWIFT -
Since its inception more than a decade ago, cryptocurrency has been viewed as a way to supplant traditional global methods of exchanging money. Today, as virtual currencies proliferate,...more
2/19/2019
/ Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
SWIFT ,
Virtual Currency
On October 24, 2018, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) gave the country’s cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status, allowing the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) power to police and penalize...more
Nearly a year after then-acting US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo actively promoted FinTech innovation as a key to economic growth, he has minted a groundbreaking FinTech...more