Yesterday's post noted that an administrative decision had not been listed as a "precedent decision". Today's post will delve into the role of precedential and nonprecedential agency decisions....more
Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation announced that it has launched a "Crypto Scam Tracker". According to the DFPI, the Crypto Scam Tracker is "a database that is searchable by company...more
Relatively few English words both begin and end with the letter "k". Kiosk is one. The word kiosk can be traced to the Persian word, kūsht, which refers to a palace or villa. In Turkish, the word became köşk. In France, a...more
The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently issued a warning about "individual or individuals on YouTube claiming that individuals can form their own “private banks” and become “individual bankers”...more
The internet facilitates crime in the same way it facilitates legitimate business - it lowers transaction costs. With the internet, a fraudster can steal someone's identity and then use that purloined identity to reach...more
Article IV, Section 12(a) of the California Constitution requires the Governor within the first 10 days of the year to submit to the Legislature, with an explanatory message, a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Last...more
Shortly after Christmas, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation began issuing consumer alerts with respect to possible cryptocurrency broker frauds. These alerts generally involved alleged "Advance...more
The Department of Financial Protection & Innovation's website includes a link to an Excel spreadsheet listing the designation of of location(s) for service of legal process on financial institutions. This listing is the...more
Earlier this month, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a quasi interpretive opinion regarding whether the unnamed requestor must be licensed under California's Money Transmission Act to...more
Some readers may recall that two years ago the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency adopted a "true lender" rule. That rule The rule specified that a bank makes a loan and is the true lender if, as of the date of...more
The California Financing Law prohibits any person from engaging in the business of a "finance lender" without a license from the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). The CFL provides...more
A week ago, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission charged Kim Kardashian with touting on social media a crypto asset security offered and sold by EthereumMax without disclosing the payment she received for the...more
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 2269 (Grayson) which would have created a "Digital Financial Assets Law" to be administered by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The Governor in his veto message...more
In January, 1832, William Learned Marcy rose in the United States Senate to defend Secretary of State Martin Van Buren from criticism by Henry Clay. Clay's attack on Van Buren is not remembered, but the words of Senator...more
The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation recently issued is 2021 Annual Report of Operation of Finance Lenders, Brokers, and PACE Administrators Licensed Under the California Financing Law. The DFPI...more
In this July post, I noted that " if conduct is not ongoing, it is impossible for someone to discontinue or desist". The California legislature, however, sees no such logical problem. Late last month, it enacted and...more
Last Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Avyark “Avy” Mallik as General Counsel at the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Most recently, Mr. Mallik served as...more
Yesterday's post concerned a bill pending in the California legislature that would impose a licensing requirement on persons engaging in "digital financial asset business activity", or holding itself out as being able to...more
In June, I reported that Assemblymember Grayson had gutted and amended AB 2269 to establish a "Digital Financial Assets Law" to be administered by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The bill was amended...more
Section 25102.5 of the California Corporations Code exempts from the issuer qualification requirement of the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 a "transaction" that is the sale of: (i) a series of notes secured directly by an...more
I started practicing law in the same year that California enacted a limited offering exemption for the offer and sale of securities in issuer transactions, Cal. Corp. Code § 25102(f). Before then, issuers had to rely on...more
The Commissioner of the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation is vested with broad statutory authority to issue orders directing the discontinuance of violations or that a person "desist and refrain" from specified...more
Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of a general counsel for the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The appointee, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, had previously served...more
An idealized vision of the family farm holds a special place in the psyche of the American people. But what exactly constitutes a "family farm"? That is one of the definitional challenges that the Department of Financial...more
In 2020, California enacted the California Consumer Financial Protection Law, Cal. Fin. Code § 90000 et seq. The CCFPL authorizes the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation to define unfair, deceptive, and abusive...more