Over the past two years, prices for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets have experienced extreme gains and declines, while billions of dollars have been raised through Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”). In this dynamic...more
2/1/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodities ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Disgorgement ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
FinCEN ,
FinHub ,
Fraud ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
Misleading Statements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Startups ,
State Regulators ,
Token Sales ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Utility Tokens
On November 2, 2018, the SEC Enforcement Division (“Division”) released its Annual Report summarizing the past year’s enforcement activity. In the 2018 fiscal year, the first full fiscal year that Stephanie Avakian and Steven...more
12/7/2018
/ Annual Reports ,
CEOs ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investor Protection ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD)
With soaring cryptocurrency prices attracting significant new investment in late 2017, U.S. regulators sought to fill the statutory void by exercising jurisdiction over a variety of digital assets. That trend continued in the...more
6/28/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Popular ,
Public Offerings ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Securities Regulators ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
In a speech at the New York City Bar White Collar Crime Institute on May 9, 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a new U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) policy designed to encourage coordination among law...more
5/15/2018
/ CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Fines ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Forfeiture ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
In a development with potentially far-reaching consequences for white collar enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division has expanded the opportunity for companies to earn credit for voluntary...more
3/8/2018
/ Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Trump Administration ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Yates Memorandum
In a decision with substantial implications for Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") enforcement, on February 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously narrowed the scope of anti-retaliation...more
2/23/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On December 11, 2017, SEC Chairman Clayton issued an important public statement outlining his views on cryptocurrencies and ICOs. In his statement, Chairman Clayton provided a clearer view of the SEC’s stance and offered the...more
Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin, the new Co-Directors of the U.S. SEC Enforcement Division (“Division”), released a report on November 15, 2017, summarizing the Division’s enforcement activity for the fiscal year ending...more
11/29/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Asset Freeze ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disgorgement ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fraud ,
Investor Protection ,
Investors ,
Penalties ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Pump and Dump ,
Retail Market ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust Inc., a case the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided this past March. This is significant because the Supreme Court may clarify how...more
6/28/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Certiorari ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Split of Authority ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
In a unanimous decision with significant implications for Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) enforcement, the U.S. Supreme Court in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission1 held June 5, 2017 that disgorgement in...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on May 5, 2017 upheld the 2014 convictions of a California businessman, Walter Liew (“Liew”), and his company USA Performance Technology, Inc. (“USAPTI”), for various violations...more
5/23/2017
/ Appeals ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
DuPont ,
Economic Espionage Act ,
Foreign Governments ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Reaffirmation ,
Sellers ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Theft ,
Trade Secrets ,
White Collar Crimes
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled in Somers v. Digital Realty Trust Inc. that the Dodd-Frank Act’s definition of “whistleblower” includes not only those who disclose information...more
3/16/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Chevron Deference ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Accountability Act ,
Rollbacks ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Split of Authority ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The Supreme Court in Salman v. United States yesterday issued its most significant ruling in an insider trading case in more than two decades. In a unanimous, brief opinion written by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court affirmed...more