Samuel Langhorne Clemens, d/b/a Mark Twain, was the author of many outstanding (and often humorous) books and short stories that had good guys (e.g., Huck, Jim and Tom), bad guys (e.g., Pap Finn; the Duke and the Dauphin, who...more
New efforts by states to incentivize whistleblowers financially underscore the importance of comprehensive corporate compliance programs that effectively address all internal reports of potential misconduct that may...more
SEC/CORPORATE - SEC Division of Corporation Finance Issues Four FAQs Addressing the SEC’s Conditional Relief Order - On May 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (the Division)...more
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many federally registered investment advisers have moved to temporary remote working arrangements. As a result of these temporary offices, advisers are faced with registration and licensing...more
EDITOR'S NOTE - In This Issue. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) explained how state and federal securities laws might apply to fundraising for...more
BROKER-DEALER - SEC Adopts Rules and Interpretations To Enhance Protections and Preserve Choice for Retail Investors - On June 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt a package of rules and...more
A key regulator has announced a cryptocurrency crackdown in conjunction with Canadian as well as U.S. federal and state regulators. Also, the CFTC has released new guidance for clearinghouses and exchanges, while a key state...more
US state and federal regulators recently offered carrots to guide market actors toward better behavior and are using the stick of enforcement actions to discourage fraud in ICOs and other cryptocurrency-related offerings....more
Fintech developments continue to unfold, with ongoing workshops and forums, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. remarks from its chair, another dismissal in the challenge to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC)...more
Though they have become a hot topic in the past year, cryptocurrencies still occupy something of an untamed frontier in the financial trading and investment ecosystem — but a coordinated, international effort by regulators to...more
This past week was a busy one for state securities regulators, the CFTC and the SEC as they continue their focus on rooting out fraud from the digital currency space and crypto- and blockchain-based ventures. Noteworthy...more
On May 21, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced two actions intended to increase surveillance of virtual currency markets and enforcement of the Commodity Exchange Act in relation to these markets....more
On the same day that a meteorological blizzard slammed the Eastern Seaboard, U.S. financial regulators unleashed their own flurry of statements and warnings surrounding initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies....more
CFTC Indicates Willingness to Help Incubate Fintech - On February 21, 2017, J. Christopher Giancarlo, the acting chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), has diverged from other U.S. federal...more
The North American State Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) recently warned investors about the risks of investing in binary options. While NASAA asserts that many binary trading platforms are “unregulated or are...more
In this issue: - SEC Proposes New Pay-for-Performance Rules - NASAA Launches a Streamlined Filing Process for Form D - CFTC Proposal Eases Trade Option Obligations for Non-SD/MSP Counterparties -...more