Prompted by congressional scrutiny of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) efforts to root out those abusing lucrative Puerto Rico tax benefits, the agency has committed to devoting more resources to audits of those taking...more
In a recent interview with Law360, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal reiterated the agency’s commitment to the encouragement of voluntary self-reporting, going as far as to say that...more
Building on the recent passage of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), at the American Bar Association’s 2024 National Institute on White Collar Crime conference in San Francisco earlier this month (2024 ABA...more
3/19/2024
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Cooperation ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FEPA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Fraud ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
After years of explicitly warning taxpayers that failing to report or underreporting income from transactions involving digital assets would lead to criminal charges, federal prosecutors are now beginning to follow through on...more
2/23/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Capital Gains ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Income Taxes ,
Indictments ,
IRS ,
Required Forms ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Returns ,
Virtual Currency
A recent rule promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeks to regulate possibly deceptive practices in automobile sales. Finalized in December, the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule looks to protect...more
Adding to federal prosecutors’ tool kit in fighting global corruption, on December 14, 2023, Congress passed with bipartisan support, the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA). As part of the National Defense Authorization...more
1/5/2024
/ Amended Legislation ,
Biden Administration ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Extortion ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Public Officials ,
Transparency
Crypto Firms Announce Initiatives in Payments, Mining, DAOs and More -
Recent reports provided details on new developments across the cryptocurrency market...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ), IRS Criminal Investigations (CI) and international tax authorities continue to prosecute tax abuses related to digital asset transactions. In imposing a multiyear prison sentence in a recent...more
Long-awaited enforcement actions may be coming soon for those who took advantage of the lucrative tax breaks offered by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico without meeting the requirements. Prosecutions may also follow for...more
7/27/2023
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Puerto Rico ,
Relief Measures ,
Residency Requirements ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Technology Sector ,
Voluntary Disclosure
In a recent ruling, a California federal judge held that Kraken, an online cryptocurrency exchange program, has to turn over user information to the IRS as a result of a John Doe summons originally served on Kraken in 2021....more
This past Tuesday, July 11, a federal judge ruled against the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request to the District Court of Northern California to issue a preliminary injunction against Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion...more
In late March, attendees gathered in Washington, D.C., for the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s 71st Annual Spring Meeting, including officials from state, federal and international antitrust enforcement agencies. These enforcers...more
4/24/2023
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Annual Meeting ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Data Preservation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Monopolization ,
No-Poaching ,
State Antitrust Claims ,
State Attorneys General ,
Wage-Fixing ,
White Collar Crimes
Takeaways:
..2022 IRS Criminal Investigation Annual Report highlights significant prosecutions and identifies cryptocurrency as an area of top priority heading into 2023.
..Criminal Investigation Chief Jim Lee...more
Key Takeaways -
..A court approved the issuance of a John Doe summons by the IRS to a bank aimed at identifying individuals who are potentially avoiding their income tax obligations relating to cryptocurrency...more
9/29/2022
/ Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Digital Assets ,
IRS ,
John Doe Investigation ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Summons ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Returns ,
Virtual Currency
Despite back-to-back losses in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) first-ever criminal no-poach and wage-fixing cases, the Antitrust Division (the Division) is not backing down from its enforcement focus on labor. In...more
Key Takeaways:
..The IRS issued its fourth John Doe summons against digital asset platform sFOX, seeking information regarding user identity and transaction activity over $20,000.
..The use of John Doe summonses...more
8/22/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Criminal Liability ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
IRS ,
John Doe Investigation ,
Summons ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Liability ,
Virtual Currency
NY DFS Approves Crypto Platform, Prepaid Crypto Card to Launch in Argentina -
According to a press release this week, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) has authorized two subsidiaries of Zero...more
8/15/2022
/ Consent Order ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
MasterCard ,
Money Laundering ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Firms Announce New Crypto Initiatives; Data Published on Crypto and NFT Use -
Late last week, a major U.S. cryptocurrency custodian announced “a groundbreaking, industry-first custody exchange network giving institutions...more
6/20/2022
/ Australia ,
Blockchain ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
FinTech ,
First Amendment ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Scams ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
Key Takeaways -
..Taxpayers could be criminally and civilly liable under state False Claims Act statutes for underreporting income linked to virtual currency.
..While the federal False Claims Act explicitly excludes tax...more
5/24/2022
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Fraud ,
Whistleblowers
A well-known digital currency investment services company announced the launch of its first European exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a press release this week. The ETF, which will be traded on multiple foreign...more
5/23/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Evasion ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Funds ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Partnerships ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Scams ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On April 4, 2022, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Jonathan Kanter delivered remarks at the 2022 Competition Enforcers Summit with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announcing changes to the Antitrust Division’s (Division)...more
4/14/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Leniency Programs ,
Plea Agreements ,
Remediation ,
Restitution ,
Self-Reporting ,
Sherman Act
A large U.S.-based financial services company launched its crypto services arm last week, providing consumers with a platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to reports, the...more
3/21/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Wallets ,
Ethereum ,
Extradition ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Ransomware ,
Retirement Plan
Financial Messaging Network Launches Experiments in Stablecoin Sector - A global messaging network used by financial institutions to send and receive financial information recently announced that it is exploring the tokenized...more
US and Swiss Financial Firms Announce Decentralized Exchange, Digital Bond - A major U.S. fintech and digital payments company recently released a white paper detailing tbDEX, a new decentralized protocol for exchanging...more
12/8/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Markets ,
IRS ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Virtual Currency
New Crypto Payment Products Launch, Report Cites Exchange Consolidation - This week, a major U.S. financial services firm announced its partnership with three leading cryptocurrency service providers in the Asia Pacific...more