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
On April 18, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued a draft version of Form 1099-DA, a proposed information reporting form regarding certain digital asset sales and exchanges that “digital asset brokers” will need to...more
4/24/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Know Your Customers ,
Reporting Requirements
Summary -
The SEC’s pursuit of the crypto industry continues with its second-ever settlement of a non-fungible token (NFT) enforcement action. The SEC settled with Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2), which sought to finance an...more
Summary -
The SEC’s focus on the crypto industry expanded this week to include non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In its first NFT-enforcement action, the SEC settled with Impact Theory, a media and entertainment company, over...more
9/5/2023
/ Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
Summary -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly nearing a settlement with a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) over its failure to preserve certain credit-ratings...more
Summary -
Just when it looked like a victory for the crypto industry in SEC v. Ripple, a mere two weeks later, a different judge in the Southern District of New York disagreed with Ripple’s holding, introducing greater...more
Summary -
The past week was a busy one in the cryptocurrency sphere: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed new standards for crypto assets, and the SEC released an alert urging investors to remain...more
Summary -
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a revised policy for Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP), with new guidance on how the DOJ will consider corporate procedures for employees’ business-related...more
Summary -
Top U.S. Department of Justice officials announced the DOJ’s first-ever pilot program on corporate compensation incentives and clawbacks, as well as new policies on preservation of corporate communications, at...more
Summary -
The Department of Justice recently fine-tuned and codified the United States Attorney’s Offices (USAO) Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (VSD Policy), defining what actually constitutes voluntary self-disclosure,...more
Summary -
The Department of Justice (DOJ) last week issued revisions to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy that incentivize companies to promptly self-disclose corporate misconduct, cooperate with the DOJ,...more
Summary -
A proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend Rule 10b5-1, as well as recent enforcement activity relating to these plans, suggest that the SEC is concerned that the rule has been used as cover...more
Summary -
The jurisdictional lines between the different types of digital assets remain unclear. As Congress weighs separate bills seeking to establish a clear and workable regulatory framework, market participants are...more
Summary -
A new memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, released on September 15 (Memorandum), represents one of the most comprehensive updates in years to the approach of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in...more
The FTC recently reported that over $650 mm worth of cryptocurrency was stolen by hackers last year. Thus far, over $320 mm in cryptocurrency has been stolen by hackers this year. Not surprisingly, this surge in crypto...more
New York State public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Law must now post on their website, or provide upon request, “at least 24 hours” prior to any public meetings, any documents that will be discussed or considered...more
Treasury Offers Something for Everyone to Comply With: Trades and Businesses, Banks, Crypto Exchangers and Individuals -
On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) released its American Families Plan Tax...more
Incorporating in the Seychelles but Allegedly Operating in the U.S. Spells Trouble for Company and its Founders -
The Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, or BitMEX, is a large and well-known online trading platform dealing in...more
10/13/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Indictments ,
Know Your Customers ,
Registration Requirement ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trading Platforms
The New York Court of Appeals recently affirmed the decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board that Postmates couriers should be classified as employees, not independent contractors, for purposes of unemployment...more
For years, lawyers have been in the cross hairs of prosecutors and regulators, who sometimes regard lawyers as potential gatekeepers responsible for preventing wrongdoing by clients....more
With significant government intervention comes significant government oversight. That is the message coming from Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch concerning the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), a Small Business...more
4/25/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Fraud ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business
Congress has begun igniting its legislative engine to create a federal framework to prohibit price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, price gouging has mainly been the province of state laws....more
4/14/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Goods or Services ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Price Gouging ,
Price Inflation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
White Collar Crimes
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (Act), an unprecedented spending package aimed at alleviating the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, passed Congress today. We focus here on the Act’s oversight...more
On March 16, the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) called on Attorney General William Barr to form a nationwide task force to monitor and investigate False Claims Act (FCA) allegations related to the Covid-19 pandemic....more
The state of New York adopted a new section of the New York Labor Law in November 2019. Under the immediately effective provisions of Section 203-e, an employer cannot...more
12/31/2019
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Damages ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
New Legislation ,
Reproductive Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws