On April 20, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (“DoBS”) issued a policy statement (“Policy Statement”) to “clarify” that the Department’s interpretation of the term “money” in the Pennsylvania Money...more
5/14/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
Policy Statement ,
Virtual Currency
Typical Virtual Currency Exchanges Do Not Require PA Money Transmitter Licenses -
The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (“DoBS”) just released Guidance declaring that virtual currency, “including Bitcoin,”...more
The ongoing debate on whether virtual currencies with certain characteristics should be classified as commodities subject to regulation and enforcement by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the focal point...more
10/1/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Products ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Virtual Currency
Address Emphasizes Role of SARs in Fighting Illegal Activity, Including Drug Dealing Fueling the Opioid Crisis -
Kenneth Blanco, the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), discussed last week...more
8/13/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Information Sharing ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Virtual Currency
As we previously have blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) became one of the first regulators to wade into the regulation of cryptocurrency when it released interpretive guidance in March 2013 stating...more
3/9/2018
/ AML/CFT ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
Mutual Funds ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
A decision this week from a New York federal district court ruling that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had jurisdiction to regulate a cryptocurrency business represents the first opinion from a federal...more
3/9/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
A federal court this week found that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had jurisdiction to regulate a cryptocurrency business, raising the possibility of jurisdictional tension among the CFTC and other...more
3/9/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
On February 23, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) signaled that the inter-governmental body “will step up its efforts in monitoring the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering.” ...more
3/2/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
FATF ,
G20 ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The following joint statement was issued this last week from the Enforcement Directors of the Securities Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission...more
1/22/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Virtual Currency
As the value of bitcoin continues to soar (USD:BTC this past weekend exceeded $19,000.00:1), we thought that now would be a good time to emphasize the need to ensure regulatory compliance with the many federal and state AML...more
12/22/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Virtual Currency
As digital currency becomes more ubiquitous, state and federal regulators across the United States, as well as regulators in many other countries, are examining how existing regulatory structures need to be adapted to account...more
8/23/2017
/ Australia ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Counter-Terrorist ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
India ,
Know Your Customers ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Virtual Currency
On Monday, the state of Florida moved a step closer towards amending its money laundering statute to include the nefarious use of bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The bill, H.B. 1379, has sailed through a committee vote...more
The New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) has issued its fifth BitLicense to date, continuing a marked effort to bring legitimacy and controls to the virtual currency (“VC”) industry, whose advantages in...more
In part two of our review of the 2016 developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues, we discuss four additional key...more
2/7/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forfeiture ,
Money Laundering ,
Virtual Currency
Under Internal Revenue Code section 7609(f), the IRS may issue a “John Doe” administrative summons to discover the identities of unknown taxpayers. A “John Doe” summons can be a powerful enforcement tool because it allows the...more
2/7/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
John Doe Investigation ,
Money Laundering ,
Summons ,
Swiss Banks ,
Tax Evasion ,
Technology ,
Virtual Currency