For lenders in California, the Ides of March of March is a date worth calendaring....more
In the mid 1990s, I had the privilege of serving as Commissioner of Corporations for the State of California. At that time, the DOC was known as a tough securities regulator. However, the times they were a changin'. In...more
Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Khalil “KC” Mohseni, as Commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Commissioner Mohseni is not an entirely new to the DFPI. He served as...more
California legislators are introducing the first bills in the current biennium. One of these bills, AB 83 (Pacheco), would add an entirely new division to the California Financial Code. This new division would consist of a...more
The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation has created an online "Crypto Scam Tracker" that allows the public to by search company name, scam type, or keywords. Scams reported on the Tracker are based...more
11/20/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry
The Commissioner of Financial Protection & Innovation is appointed by the Governor and is subject to confirmation by the Senate. Cal. Fin. Code § 322. The Governor, however, is not free to appoint just anyone. To be...more
When an erstwhile shareholder of First Republic Bank sued the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation for failing to safeguard the "financial soundness and structural integrity" of the bank, the DFPI "took...more
The California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) authorizes the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI) “regarding registration requirements applicable to a covered person engaged in the business of...more
Exactly one year ago today, I wrote that Governor Newsom had signed a bill, AB 39, that will prohibit a person from engaging in digital financial asset business activity without a license from Department of Financial...more
A year ago, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills, Assembly Bill 39 and Senate Bill 401, that created the California Digital Financial Assets Law. SB 401 added Section 3902 to the Financial Code to prohibit an operator of...more
9/10/2024
/ ATMs ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
California ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Governor Newsom ,
State Legislatures
In S.E.C. v. Jarkesy, 2024 WL 3187811 (June 27, 2024), the United States Supreme Court held that when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh...more
Since I served as Commissioner of Corporations in the 1990s, the Department of Corporations has consolidated with the Department of Financial Institutions and changed its name twice. It is now known by the unwieldy name of...more
A lot has changed since George Gerro filed an action seeking a declaration that the California finance lender's license issued to BlockFi Lending LLC was both void and improperly issued: Blockfi has filed for bankruptcy; the...more
Given the importance of venture capital to California's economy, one might expect that state lawmakers would be keen to nurture the industry rather than enact laws that encourage venture capital companies to avoid the Golden...more
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court held that when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution entitles the...more
6/28/2024
/ California ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
False Advertising ,
Jury Trial ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Unfair Competition
If someone told my younger self that someday people would take photographs with their phones, I would have wondered where you would insert the film.* Today, the question would be "What is film?" When I headed the Department...more
California generally requires that persons engaged in the business of making loans be licensed. If not licensed under some other statute (such as the banking, credit union or residential mortgage lending laws), a lender will...more
Recently, I wrote about the California Office of Administrative Law's rejection of regulations proposed by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. These proposed regulations were intended to "implement,...more
There is certainly no lack of persons actively violating the seventh or eighth commandment (depending upon who is counting). Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation announced that it has...more
Last year, the California legislature enacted a bill, SB 54 (Skinner), that requires a "a venture capital" company to report annually to the Civil Rights Department on its funding determinations related to companies primarily...more
Article 14, Section 12 of the California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget to the Legislature by January 10 of each year. The Constitution further required that the budget be accompanied by a budget bill,...more
In March 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation proposed to adopt numerous regulations to "implement, interpret, and make specific registration requirements for covered persons under the...more
Last week the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a report of its activities under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law. The California legislature enacted the CCFPL in 2020 for the...more
Yesterday, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation warned investors that an "entity calling itself “Hartman Cain & Associates,” which represents itself as a law firm based in California, and operates...more
Last week, Senator Steven M. Glazer introduced a bill, SB 1482, that would require licensing of "commercial financing providers" and "commercial financing brokers" with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation...more