In a May 12, 2025 Keynote Address before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Crypto Task Force’s fourth industry roundtable on digital assets, newly-minted Chair Paul Atkins laid out a sweeping vision for...more
5/16/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins ,
Technology
On April 18, 2025, the State of Oregon brought a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”) for the alleged sale of unregistered securities. In a press release, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield...more
5/15/2025
/ Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investigations ,
Oregon ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
State Attorneys General
Just over one month into the second Trump Administration, the crypto industry appears poised to notch yet another victory in its longstanding tug-of-war with regulators — perhaps its most significant to date. On February 21,...more
2/28/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
On January 23, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order entitled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” establishing his Administration’s policy “to support the responsible growth and use...more
1/31/2025
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
More than two years after announcing the first round of settlements in the ongoing “off-channel communications” probe, the SEC recently announced another round of settlements with 26 financial firms, totaling $390 million in...more
Over the last several years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has been laser-focused on the use of so-called “off-channel communications” in the financial services industry. On the theory that employees’ use of...more
4/22/2024
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employees ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
The United States Department of the Treasury has announced that it is working to address what it perceives as money laundering risks associated with investment advisers. Specifically, the agency asserts that absent consistent...more
1/11/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Over the last several years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have been laser-focused on the use of so called “off-channel communications” in the...more
5/26/2023
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Swap Dealers
The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has taken action against Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini”) (collectively, “Defendants”) in a recently-filed complaint...more
Over the last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has been laser-focused on the use of personal devices by employees of the large Wall Street banks to conduct company business. The SEC’s investigations...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted on Wednesday to adopt a new rule requiring companies listed on a national securities exchange to claw back incentive-based executive compensation that was erroneously...more
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has implications for whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act” or “The Act”). In Hong v. SEC,...more
8/4/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FHFA ,
Incentives ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
New York’s chief law enforcement agency recently squandered an opportunity to bring much needed guidance to the digital assets space. On October 18, 2021, the Office of New York Attorney General, Letitia James (“NYAG”),...more
11/30/2021
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
New York ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
State and Local Government ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Last week, Coinbase Global Inc. (“Coinbase”) headed off confrontation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by announcing it was shelving a much ballyhooed digital asset lending product, Lend. The announcement...more
In Securities & Exchange Comm’n v. Fowler, No. 20-1081, 2021 WL 3083655 (2d Cir. July 22, 2021), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court judgment awarding the Securities and Exchange...more
The Office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James (“NYAG”) has filed a lawsuit to shut down technology company Coinseed. The state has accused the firm of selling unregistered securities in the form of digital...more
2/26/2021
/ Attorney General ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Fraud ,
New York ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
For the first time outside of the originating case itself, a federal appeals court was called upon to apply the principles governing disgorgement in SEC enforcement actions established by the United States Supreme Court’s...more
8/21/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In Liu v. Securities & Exchange Comm’n, No. 18-1501, 2020 WL 3405845 (U.S. June 22, 2020), the United States Supreme Court upheld the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to seek disgorgement as an...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently issued guidance in connection with firms’ relationships with third-party service providers. These publications...more
2/28/2020
/ Alternative Trading System (ATS) ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cybersecurity ,
Examination Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Market Access Rule ,
Market Participants ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Vendors
To gain insight into where the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have been focusing their oversight and what their priorities will be in 2020, look no further than...more
10/31/2019
/ Anti-Corruption ,
CFTC ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Market Abuse ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan
In Securities & Exchange Comm. v. Gentile, No. 18-1242, 2019 WL 4686251 (3d Cir. Sept. 26, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit took up the question of whether Securities and Exchange Commission...more
10/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Future Harm ,
Injunctions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Penalties ,
Penny Stocks ,
Pump and Dump ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Authority
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) took a break from its recent focus on digital assets and the Best Interest fiduciary standard to publish a Risk Alert encouraging investment advisers and...more
4/30/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Customer Information ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Opt-Outs ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Privacy Policy ,
Regulation S-P ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Over the past couple of years, the crypto industry has come under heavy scrutiny from skeptical regulators seeking to root out fraud and protect investors amid the initial coin offering boom that generated over $4 billion in...more
10/31/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody Rule ,
Department of Financial Services ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Innovation ,
Investment Companies ,
Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
State Regulators ,
Virtual Currency
On April 17, 2018, the New York State Attorney General (“NYAG”) sent a “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Questionnaire” to 13 companies operating virtual currency trading platforms. The questionnaire consists of 34...more
5/1/2018
/ Attorney General ,
BitLicense ,
Coinbase ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Services ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Questionnaires ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
On April 10, 2017, Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as the Supreme Court’s 113th justice. While his experience on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals with cases involving financial regulation may be limited, certain of his decisions...more
4/27/2017
/ Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Neil Gorsuch ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Unregistered Securities