The Digital Asset SEC Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select SEC guidance, enforcement actions, and speeches relating to the application of the federal securities laws to digital assets. Beginning with the...more
The staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets (Division) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (collectively, the “Regulators”) published a joint...more
7/18/2019
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Management ,
Joint Statements ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIPA
The end of the year has been a very busy time for the SEC in the digital asset space. From speeches to the issuance of joint statements to enforcement actions, there are many things to highlight, discuss and consider. This...more
12/21/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investor Protection ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Registration Requirement ,
Section 5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Token Sales
In a flurry of enforcement activity in the digital asset space, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers,...more
10/8/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Popular ,
Regulation D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
During a speech in San Francisco last week at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided some welcome...more
6/25/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Certificate of Deposit ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Ether ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Contract ,
Investors ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Token Sales
On Monday, April 2, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two co-founders of Centra Tech, Inc. (Centra), a purported financial services company headquartered in Florida, with conducting a fraudulent...more
On February 6, 2018, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs conducted a hearing entitled “Virtual Currencies: The Oversight Role of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S....more
2/7/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
FSOC ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
IOSCO ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
On Friday, December 1, 2017, the SEC filed an emergency action in federal district court in Brooklyn alleging that Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Roger, both from Quebec, Canada, raised approximately $15 million in a...more
12/4/2017
/ Asset Freeze ,
Canada ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
Notice of Emergency Action ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Scams ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unregistered Securities
On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released groundbreaking materials relating to blockchain tokens. These materials provide significant and welcome insight to the SEC’s and its staff’s thinking...more
7/27/2017
/ Alternative Trading System (ATS) ,
Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investor Advisory Committee ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency