Failures by a number of investment advisers to comply with certain rules governing principal and agency cross trades has prompted the compliance inspections staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue a...more
10/1/2019
/ Cross Trading ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Failure to Comply ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Pooled Investment Vehicles ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Strict Compliance
Amid increasing enforcement activity with respect to cryptocurrencies, coins and tokens, the SEC recently issued guidance intended to provide clarity to the markets. ...more
5/1/2019
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinHub ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
No-Action Letters ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released its examination priorities for 2019 in order to promote the transparency of its investigation program....more
2/1/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Examination Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
MSRB ,
OCIE ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently sided with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and decided that virtual currencies are commodities. This ruling confirms the regulator’s...more
In a regulatory first, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease and desist order and imposed a $200,000 fine against a hedge fund that invested in digital assets and its founder. ...more
10/1/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Instruments ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Amid concerns that many investors may not fully understand the risks associated with virtual currencies, or the limits of regulatory oversight, the National Futures Association (NFA) recently issued an interpretive notice...more
9/5/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Markets ,
Futures ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Introducing Brokers ,
Investment Products ,
Investor Protection ,
National Futures Association ,
NFA ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Virtual Currency
On July 11, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a risk alert outlining certain compliance issues identified by its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) related to the obligation to...more
8/1/2018
/ Best Execution ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
OCIE ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Strict Compliance
The regulatory focus on initial coin offerings (ICOs) in France continues unabated, with the French Treasury proposing a new legislative framework, yet to be officially adopted, that aims to balance the development of ICO...more
On April 18, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a trio of rules and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of investors’ relationships with investment advisers (IAs) and...more
5/2/2018
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Products ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On April 12, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a risk alert outlining certain compliance issues identified by the regulator’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) related to...more
The regulatory focus on initial coin offerings (ICOs) has not diminished since our last client alert where we mentioned that the public consultation of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) proposed to develop an ad...more
Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently released their respective 2018 examination priorities, providing a glimpse into their plans for the year to...more
3/2/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Capital Raising ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Funds ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Secondary Markets ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
On Feb. 6, Jay Clayton and Christopher Giancarlo, the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), respectively, jointly testified before the Senate Banking...more
3/1/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
ETFs ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Virtual Currency
One week after filing a fraud suit against the organizer of the PlexCoin token sale, the SEC issued an enforcement order in connection with a token offering by Munchee and a public statement that shed some additional light on...more
2/8/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Global Regulators Increasingly Shifting Focus to Cryptocurrency -
After years of allowing cryptocurrency transactions to fly under the radar, financial market regulators are beginning to turn their attention to virtual...more
2/2/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Funds ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securitization ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
Until recently, cryptocurrencies had largely avoided the regulatory spotlight. While financial market regulators monitored the emerging sector, they largely maintained a hands-off approach as it remained on the periphery of...more
2/1/2018
/ Asia ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Funds ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The effect of Bitcoin on securities markets and enhanced measures related to retail investors were the focus at the October meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Investor Advisory Committee (Committee)....more
12/5/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Markets ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Popular ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
OCIE Highlights Frequent Topics for Compliance Deficiencies for Investment Advisers -
On Feb. 7, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) published...more
3/2/2017
/ Books & Records ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Covered Agreement ,
Custody Rule ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
EU ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Form ADV ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
NYDFS ,
OCIE ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reinsurance ,
Risk Alert ,
Rule 204-2 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Strict Compliance