The Department of Justice has announced yet another pilot program, adding to their “mix of carrots and sticks” designed “to promote responsible corporate citizenship.” The new whistleblower pilot program, which is still under...more
3/25/2024
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Extortion ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On March 1, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama found that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional because it exceeds Congress’ legislative power. The 53-page opinion...more
“Call us before we call you.” With this message, on January 10, 2024, the Southern District of New York announced the SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program (Pilot Program), which seeks to encourage individual participants in...more
1/25/2024
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Pilot Programs ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
As of January 10, 2024, US securities exchanges may list Bitcoin ETFs for trading. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts hope this decision signals a broader adoption of cryptocurrency in the United States. Perhaps it does, but...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued the Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Rule (Access Rule) establishing the framework for access to and protection of beneficial ownership...more
1/8/2024
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Entities ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
U.S. Treasury
On October 4, 2023, US Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Lisa Monaco announced that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is adopting a new Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy, incentivizing companies to voluntarily disclose...more
10/10/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Mergers ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Safe Harbors ,
Voluntary Disclosure
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed extending the deadline for certain companies to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and report their beneficial ownership information (BOI) from 30...more
On August 28, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settled enforcement action against Impact Theory LLC (Impact Theory) for the unregistered sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that the SEC determined...more
On February 22, 2023, the US Department of Justice issued a nationwide policy for all US Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) outlining the circumstances in which a company may receive credit for voluntary self-disclosure (VSD)....more
On January 17, 2023, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. (AAG Polite) announced changes to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP). The CEP, which applies to all Criminal...more
1/25/2023
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Forfeiture ,
Restitution ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unanimously adopted amendments to Rule 10b5-1 (the Rule), which prohibits the purchase or sale of securities on the basis of material nonpublic information (MNPI) in violation...more
1/5/2023
/ Amended Rules ,
Certification Requirements ,
Cooling-Off Rule ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Trading Plans
Certain companies will soon have to give the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) a look behind the corporate veil. In December 2021, FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on one...more
On September 27, 2022, 15 broker-dealers and one investment adviser agreed to pay more than $1.8 billion in total civil penalties to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and, for those same companies or affiliates...more
10/5/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps ,
Text Messages
On September 15, 2022, Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Attorney General (Deputy AG) Lisa Monaco announced new guidance for the DOJ’s corporate enforcement policies, which is memorialized in the Memorandum on Further...more
On July 21, 2022, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment charging Ishan Wahi (Wahi), a former product manager at a large cryptocurrency trading platform (the Platform) - along with his brother Nikhil Wahi...more
7/28/2022
/ Conspiracies ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Popular ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wire Fraud
Last week, yet another US Department of Justice (DOJ) official reportedly stated new corporate settlements “most likely” will include a requirement that the company’s chief compliance officer (CCO), as well as the chief...more
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R- WY) introduced new proposed legislation on June 7, 2022, which would classify the vast majority of digital assets as commodities, and empower the Commodities Futures...more
6/14/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FERC ,
FinTech ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Investment Contract ,
NIST ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The race to establish a national framework for the regulation of digital assets is heating up, with both California and New Jersey taking action this past week. On June 1, 2022, the California Department of Financial...more
6/9/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Newsom ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the unsealing of a first-of-its-kind indictment involving a digital asset “insider trading” scheme. The indictment charges Nathaniel...more
6/8/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
FBI ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Wire Fraud
Two recent decisions have put the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) in-house administrative proceedings in the crosshairs. First, on May 16, 2022, the US Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Administrative Law...more
On May 13, 2022, a putative class action was filed in federal court against an online secondary marketplace that sells luxury goods (e.g., sneakers, handbags, and electronics) and, recently, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that...more
5/23/2022
/ Consumer Protection Laws ,
False Statements ,
Fraud ,
Implied Warranties ,
Material Misstatements ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Online Marketplace ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Warranties
On May 2, 2022, a putative class action was filed against a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and its members seeking to recover $55 million in cryptocurrency losses stolen during a hack into the DAO’s decentralized...more
On May 3, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the expansion of its newly styled Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (Unit) (formerly known as the Cyber Unit), housed within its Division of...more
5/10/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Howey ,
Lenders ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Working Groups
Our quarterly Financial Crime Horizon Scanner for the UK summarizes key financial crime related legal and regulatory changes expected over the next 2 years and provides electronic links to key resources.
We hope that you...more
5/2/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Belarus ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Real Estate Development ,
Russia ,
UK
Our quarterly Financial Crime Horizon Scanner for the US summarizes key financial crime related legal and regulatory changes expected over the next 2 years and provides electronic links to key resources.
We hope that you...more
5/2/2022
/ Belarus ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)