On January 23, President Trump issued an EO, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The same day, the SEC published SAB 122 which rescinded the earlier staff interpretive guidance, SAB 121....more
On Aug. 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its judgment in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs, Inc., marking the end of district court- level proceedings in the highly...more
8/12/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Pending Litigation ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unregistered Securities
In connection with the Biden Administration’s ongoing crackdown on corruption, tax havens, and illicit financing, on December 11, Treasury released a Fact Sheet on its “efforts to address the illicit finance and national...more
Chair Gensler Continues to Be Outspoken About the Risks of AI Technologies -
Chair Gensler’s warnings of the potential risks associated with the use of AI technologies in the securities industry recently continued with...more
For years, the SEC has focused on broker-dealers complying with all applicable AML and financial sanctions laws and regulations, including the BSA and its implementing regulations. For example, in 2021, the Division issued a...more
Chair Gensler’s Public Statements Warning of AI’s Impact on Securities Industry -
In his speech before the National Press Club, Chair Gensler focused on the tremendous opportunities AI technology presents but cautioned...more
8/8/2023
/ Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Data Privacy ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Adviser ,
Machine Learning ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Statements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC’s Cybersecurity Proposals -
The SEC has proposed four rules designed to address cybersecurity risk and management, including incident reporting by public companies....more
7/21/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Management ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Oversight Duties ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Reconciling Recordkeeping Requirements Against the Prudence of Data Remediation -
As we have covered in previous alerts, the SEC and other regulators have intensified their scrutiny of the retention of electronic...more
Background and Scope -
The Assessment was drafted by Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (“TFFC”), in consultation with multiple U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security,...more
On Nov. 3, 2022, the SEC announced a consent order against a registered investment adviser (RIA) and its chief executive officer (CEO) for failing to reasonably supervise one of the RIA’s investment adviser representatives...more
The Marketing Rule seeks to address evolving changes in advertising and referral practices in the industry – particularly with respect to the use of the Internet, mobile applications, and social media – by providing an...more
11/4/2022
/ Advertising ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Endorsements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Marketing ,
Ratings ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Takeaways -
..U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, or Commission) Chair Gary Gensler reaffirmed his view that the “vast majority” of cryptocurrency tokens are securities, and recent agency enforcement actions...more
Significant parallel actions commenced this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) bring crypto fraud enforcement into the spotlight, with the SEC alleging that multiple...more
7/25/2022
/ Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptoassets ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Wallets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations
Key Takeaways -
..SEC enforcement actions related to crypto and cyber are expected to significantly increase with the additional 20 staff assigned to the Division of Enforcement unit dedicated to these industries....more
As one of its latest enforcement actions, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) continued its push into the fintech space by charging an alternative data provider with securities fraud for the first...more
On August 30, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced three settled orders against several investment advisers, broker-dealers, and dual registrants for violations of Regulation S-P allegedly resulting...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued a request for information and public comment on the use of new and emerging technologies by investment advisers and broker-dealers that suggests potential...more
In a speech before the Aspen Security Forum on August 3, 2021, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) Chair Gary Gensler urged lawmakers to provide him with the power to police cryptocurrency trading,...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) recently issued a stark reminder to regulated persons that it will pursue enforcement actions if they prevent whistleblowers from communicating with the SEC or...more
The Telegram case is arguably the most important case of 2020 involving the legal classification of blockchain-based digital assets. Because it is often cost-prohibitive for companies to challenge the government in court, the...more
On Sept. 30, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) motion for summary judgment against Kik Interactive Inc. (Kik) and denied Kik’s...more
On May 8, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Kik Interactive Inc. (Kik) finished briefing their cross motions for summary judgment, which were previously filed on March 20, with opposition briefs...more
For the first time since the Supreme Court’s 1983 decision in Dirks v. SEC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed an insider trading conviction without proof of a personal benefit to the insider...more
On April 16, 2019, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a risk alert, “Investment Adviser and Broker-Dealer Compliance Issues Relating to...more
The Supreme Court of the United States recently upheld a broad interpretation of the antifraud rule of the federal securities laws that likely will have far-reaching implications for enforcement and civil actions....more
4/4/2019
/ Appeals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Fines ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Investment Banks ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Material Dissemination ,
Misleading Statements ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Suspensions