The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the “Court”) issued a major ruling against the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 29, 2023, holding that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order on August 28, 2023, charging Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact Theory”) with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in violation...more
9/8/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens
In the latest decision evaluating the application of federal securities laws to the digital asset context, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) ruled in favor...more
8/23/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investment Contract ,
Liquidity ,
New York ,
Profits ,
Registration Requirement ,
Ripple ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
The Supreme Court yet again unanimously overturned bribery convictions based on prosecutorial overreach via the honest services wire fraud statute. The steady stream of reversals fundamentally challenges the DOJ’s approach in...more
The First Circuit applied a narrow definition of “bribery” for honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1346. Payments made to the purportedly harmed party in the alleged bribery scheme—here, the universities—cannot...more
The Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in a case that presented the issue of whether corporate “tag” jurisdiction, which arises from serving a corporate executive temporarily present in the relevant territory (say, the...more
Last week, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program” or “Program”) that will apply to all corporate criminal resolutions with the Criminal Division...more
The Department of Justice announced on February 23, 2022, that it would no longer be “grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric,” which many in the press presented as the end of the China Initiative program.
But as...more
This week the Department of Justice rolled out its new United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy.
The Policy, which is effective immediately, details when a company will be considered to have made...more
ESG – environmental, social and governance factors – has become a major focus for organisations which are under growing pressure to demonstrate they are doing the right thing and executing their commitments to sustainable...more
10/14/2022
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Commission ,
European Parliament ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Net Zero ,
Public Policy ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
SFDR ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
DOJ and the SEC Enforcement Division have launched initiatives targeting executive compensation clawbacks.
The SEC is aggressively pursuing SOX 304 compensation clawbacks from Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial...more
In response to President Biden’s March 9, 2022 Executive Order on digital assets, the DOJ announced the formation of a new network of prosecutors tasked with becoming specialists in investigating and prosecuting alleged...more
9/22/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
CFTC ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Statute of Limitations
Late last week, the Department of Justice’s Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, announced several new guidelines for prosecutors to use when determining how to assess and treat corporate offenders....more
9/21/2022
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Individual Accountability ,
New Guidance ,
Prior Wrongful Acts ,
Recidivism ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Transparency
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 21, 2022, filed a complaint (the “SEC Complaint”) alleging insider trading violations against an insider, his brother, and a friend, claiming that the trio engaged in...more
8/15/2022
/ Coinbase ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Trading ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Public Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations
Key Takeaways -
As DOJ senior leadership signaled it would do since March, DOJ has now officially required as part of resolving a corporate enforcement action, that a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) and Chief Executive...more
7/1/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
CEOs ,
Certification Requirements ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
White Collar Crimes
Introduction -
Cryptocurrencies have surged in popularity in recent years. As we have reported in recent OnPoints, the swift growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies raise legal questions about everything from their...more
Key Takeaways-
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement against chip manufacturing company Nvidia Corporation, on May 6, 2022, for inadequate disclosures concerning the impact of...more
5/19/2022
/ Bitcoin Mining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Gaming ,
Gaming Revenues ,
Microchip Technology ,
NVIDIA ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement Agreements
On February 23, 2022, the Department of Justice announced that it would no longer be grouping cases under the "China Initiative" rubric, citing the "harmful perception" of racial or ethnic bias the use of that nomenclature...more
There is an increasing legislative trend towards holding companies accountable for their own ESG practices as well as those of business partners within their supply chain.
...more
The Department of Justice on November 19, 2021, updated its online information sheet about its ongoing China Initiative, which “reflects the [DOJ’s] strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats” by...more
12/7/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Espionage ,
Foreign Relations ,
Hackers ,
Trade Secrets
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently recognized new constitutional and extraterritorial limits on the FCPA. In an order entered November 10, 2021, the court held that it lacked...more
12/3/2021
/ Bribery ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Process ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Agents ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indictments ,
Jurisdiction ,
Kickbacks ,
Money Laundering ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Vagueness ,
White Collar Crimes
Introduction -
China’s top anti-corruption watchdogs recently released a new anti-bribery Guideline designed to focus on multi-national corporations and individuals that pay bribes in China, as opposed to bribe recipients,...more
Whether a cryptocurrency product is a security is an issue with serious regulatory consequences. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a broad position that various crypto assets are...more
11/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
Key Takeaways - The federal government has the cryptocurrency market in its crosshairs. Specifically, the DOJ, SEC and CFTC have all continued to make announcements and show interest in regulating cryptocurrency and enforcing...more
Key Takeaways - On October 3, 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the “Pandora Papers,” which expose the use by political leaders, billionaires, and others of offshore entities in an...more