More than 50% increase in SEC cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2023 over 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to view cryptocurrency-related enforcement as a top priority, bringing 46...more
The Corporate Transparency Act mandates certain reporting requirements for beneficial ownership information for certain companies, with the goal of preventing the illicit use of anonymous shell companies for financial crimes....more
On November 20, 2023, the SEC filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Payward, Inc. and Payward Ventures, Inc. which, together, do business as Kraken. The...more
On October 16, 2023, the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published its annual Examination Priorities for 2024 (the “Exam Priorities”). Consistent with the...more
The priorities highlight emerging and core risk areas for investment advisers, broker-dealers, and other entities, including cybersecurity and crypto assets. On October 16, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s...more
Amid ongoing federal government shutdown risks and the close of its fiscal year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Examinations (Exams) recently announced its fiscal year (FY) 2024 priorities....more
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations announced its examination priorities for fiscal year 2024 on October 16, 2023. The timing of the announcement is significant because it is the...more
The gloves are off. The SEC’s recent enforcement actions against leading crypto exchanges suggest that the SEC has decided that time’s up for the crypto industry as it currently exists in the United States....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposes to amend Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (Reg SCI) to update and expand the regulatory oversight of the core technology of the U.S. securities markets.1 The...more
On April 17, 2023, the SEC sued Bittrex for acting as an unregistered securities exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency. Only a few weeks ago, the company announced it would exit the U.S. due to “continued regulatory...more
Regulatory Developments - SEC Proposes Rules to Improve Risk Management in Clearance and Settlement and to Facilitate Additional Central Clearing for the U.S. Treasury Market - On September 14, the SEC proposed rule...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a National Exam Program Risk Alert on June 18, 2020 (Risk Alert), which introduces an examination initiative on the upcoming...more
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commission released cybersecurity and resiliency-related examination observations on January 27, 2020, based on “thousands of examinations...more
On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released its 2020 examination priorities, an annual report by the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) meant to apprise the public...more
On July 8, 2019, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Trading and Markets and the staff of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a joint statement outlining...more
On September 17, 2015, the SEC announced charges against several senior executives of Penson Financial Services Inc., once the second-largest clearing broker-dealer in the country, and its parent corporation, Penson...more
The Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System (CARDS) proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to regularly collect customer account data from various broker-dealers and clearing firms and allow FINRA to...more
On January 9, the SEC announced its examination priorities for 2014, which cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including investment advisers and investment companies, broker-dealers, clearing agencies,...more