Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided unanimously in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 (FTC Act) does not authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to...more
This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe....more
4/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case, AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, that could substantially curtail the primary authority the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) relies on to seek monetary...more
On September 23, 2020, a panel of Skadden attorneys hosted a webinar entitled “Key Supreme Court Cases From the 2019-20 Term and a Look Ahead to the 2020-21 Term.” Panelists Julie Bédard, Boris Bershteyn, Jocelyn E. Strauber...more
11/10/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Alien Tort Statute ,
Arbitration ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Separation of Powers ,
Title VII ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
On October 29, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Division of Enforcement (Division) issued a memorandum (Guidance) providing guidance for Division staff to follow when recommending the recognition of an...more
On October 23, 2020, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published its long-awaited IBOR Fallbacks Supplement (Supplement) and IBOR Fallbacks Protocol (Protocol), marking a major milestone in the effort...more
Recent and significant regulatory and legislative events in the digital asset space demonstrate the evolving and expanding approach by U.S. and international regulators to the burgeoning digital asset markets. These...more
10/31/2020
/ Banks ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Global Market ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
OCC ,
OECD ,
Offshore Listings ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Restricted Transactions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Smart Contracts ,
Stablecoins ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taxation ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
On October 15, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted 3-2 to adopt new rules on speculative position limits (the Final Rule). The Final Rule will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal...more
On September 17, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved final rules amending the agency’s swap data reporting and derivatives clearing organization (DCO) registration requirements. The...more
On September 10, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published Staff guidance (Guidance) from the director of the Division of Enforcement (Division) that outlines factors the Division will consider when...more
On August 31, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced relief for swap dealers (SD) and other market participants related to the industry-wide transition from swaps that reference the...more
On July 23, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) voted 3-2 to approve a final rule (Final Rule) on the cross-border application of certain swap provisions under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA)....more
On June 25, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) held an open meeting and voted unanimously to approve a final rule prohibiting post-trade name give-up for swaps executed anonymously on a swap...more
On May 28, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) unanimously approved an interim final rule extending the Phase 5 compliance date for the Commission’s initial margin rules (Interim Final Rule)...more
In a memorandum dated May 20, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Enforcement issued guidance outlining factors that CFTC staff will consider when recommending civil monetary penalties (CMPs)...more
On March 24, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) voted unanimously to adopt an interpretation of the term “actual delivery” with respect to retail virtual currency transactions (2020 Guidance)....more
4/8/2020
/ Actual Delivery ,
Amended Rules ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement ,
Futures ,
Leveraged Lending ,
Margin Requirements ,
Retail Investors ,
Swaps ,
Virtual Currency
On March 17, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) issued...more
3/22/2020
/ Brokers ,
CFTC ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DMO ,
DSIO ,
Futures ,
Market Participants ,
No-Action Relief ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Swaps
On January 30, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) voted 3-2 to issue a proposed rulemaking on speculative position limits (the Proposal). The Proposal would apply spot month-only federal...more
2/19/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Position Limits ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Swaps
On January 30, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved proposed amendments (SEF Proposed Rules) to CFTC regulations related to the execution of package transactions, the correction of error...more
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney General ,
Backstop Agreements ,
BEPS ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Covenant Lite Deals ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
DACA ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Debt Financing ,
Debtors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Disgorgement ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Down Rounds ,
Drug Pricing ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Issuers ,
FRCP 23 ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Elections ,
GILTI tax ,
High-Yield Markets ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intercreditor Agreements ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
IRS ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Japan ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Multinationals ,
National Security ,
PCAOB ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Parties ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Offerings ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Refinancing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Release Agrements ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
White Collar Crimes
Over the past five years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has settled 20 enforcement actions against financial institutions for violations of various Dodd-Frank Act regulatory requirements (i.e., rules other...more
1/23/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Bipartisan Agreement ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
DSIO ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exemptions ,
Financial Institutions ,
No-Action Letters ,
No-Action Relief ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Swaps ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Supreme Court today in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, No. 18-1165 (2020) (per curiam), declined to resolve questions about the pleading standard for a breach of fiduciary duty claim against fiduciaries...more
1/15/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Officers ,
Dismissals ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
ESOP ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Fraud ,
Inflated Projections ,
Insider Information ,
Misrepresentation ,
Plan Participants ,
Pleading Standards ,
Popular ,
Remand ,
Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v Jander ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Violations ,
Vacated
In this issue of The Distributed Ledger, we discuss the IRS' warning letters for over 10,000 cryptocurrency holders, the SEC's settlement with a blockchain company regarding unregistered ICO transactions, and a European...more
9/23/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Controller ,
Data Processors ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Ethereum ,
FinHub ,
Gaming ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
IRS ,
No-Action Letters ,
Personal Information ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Startups ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Warning Letters
On July 25, 2019, the Ninth Circuit reinstated the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) lawsuit in CFTC v. Monex Credit Co.,1 interpreting the CFTC’s Dodd-Frank enforcement authority under Commodity Exchange Act...more
7/31/2019
/ Administrative Authority ,
Appeals ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Price Manipulation ,
Reversal ,
Swaps
On April 25, 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) published for public comment proposed amendments to the rules governing swap data repositories (SDRs) and reporting obligations of swap market...more