Key Points - In a thorough decision, a federal district judge in New York largely denied Coinbase’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a case brought by the SEC. Applying the plaintiff-friendly standards required at the...more
Key Points - In SEC v. Terraform, the court has granted summary judgment for the SEC on its claim that the defendants offered and sold unregistered securities in the form of “crypto assets.” This comes amidst the SEC...more
1/15/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Howey ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Stablecoins ,
Summary Judgment
Key Point -
Just shy of three weeks after Judge Torres held that the digital asset XRP is not itself a security,1 Judge Rakoff held that the SEC had adequately pled that certain digital assets, such as the UST and LUNA...more
Key Points -
A judge in the Southern District of New York recently held that (i) the crypto asset XRP is not, on its own, a security and, (ii) as a result, the determination of whether an offer or sale of XRP required SEC...more
INTRODUCTION -
Registered investment advisers to private funds clients are required to make filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each year and deliver certain information to their clients. In...more
As a general principle, the Marketing Rule requires registered investment advisers to include net performance alongside any presentation of gross performance. Market practice on whether or how this principle applies to case...more
Key Points -
The DOJ and CFTC have filed insider trading charges against a Houston-based energy trader for allegedly disclosing confidential information to a third party who then used the information to trade profitably....more
Compliance Reminders for 2022 -
Registered investment advisers to private funds clients are required to make filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each year and deliver certain information to their...more
Key Points -
Beginning as early as September 2, 2021, a “branch office” for NFA purposes will exclude any remote working location not held out to the public as a CPO or CTA office where one or more APs from the same...more
- A CPO will be prohibited from claiming an exemption from registration under CFTC Regulation 4.13 if it or any of its principals has in their backgrounds a statutory disqualification under the Commodity Exchange Act.
- A...more
6/12/2020
/ Bad Actors ,
Certification Requirements ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Pool ,
CPOs ,
Exemptions ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Management ,
National Futures Association ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Effective January 1, 2020, clarifying amendments to rules regarding communications with the public and use of promotional material will go into effect.
• Effective February 1, 2020, CTA will be subject to new limitations...more
12/27/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Asset Management ,
Brokers ,
Business Development Companies ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Compliance ,
CPOs ,
Electronic Communications ,
Exemptions ,
Family Offices ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Management ,
NFA ,
Offshore Funds ,
Registration Requirement ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff made official statements regarding when a token may or may no longer be a security
• The SEC continued to bring actions related to cryptocurrency offerings against...more
9/24/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Counter-Terrorist ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Income Taxes ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
IRS ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
National Futures Association ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Websites
• A New York federal judge held that virtual currencies are commodities within the meaning of the Commodity Exchange Act.
• This marks the first court decision to assess and to adopt the CFTC’s position that virtual...more
3/14/2018
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
The staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published a no-action letter on September 9, 2014 (available here) that permits certain commodity pool operators (CPOs) to conduct general solicitation in private...more
9/12/2014
/ CFTC ,
CPO ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Exemptions ,
General Solicitation ,
JOBS Act ,
No-Action Letters ,
Private Offerings ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rule ,
Rule 144A ,
Rule 506(c) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On August 13, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) adopted amendments to certain provisions of Part 4 of the CFTC regulations that are applicable to all commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading...more
8/21/2013
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPO ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Distribution Rules ,
Documentation ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
RICs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In their joint swap definitions release in July 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a distinction between (i) a “compo” equity total return swap, in...more