In Short -
The Situation: Recently, two judges in Southern District of New York were required to apply the Howey test in separate cases to decide whether sales of certain crypto assets were investment contracts, and thus...more
8/22/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Due Process ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stablecoins
In "Digital Assets Defined: How Lummis-Gillibrand Will Shape the Coming Fintech Debate," we provided a high-level overview of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") and examined some of its significant...more
The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple -
In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act...more
4/1/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment ,
Ripple ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
The SEC's Enforcement Action Against Ripple -
In December 2020, the SEC commenced an enforcement action against Ripple and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of...more
3/23/2022
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Strike ,
Popular ,
Section 5 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Unregistered Securities
Federal court grants summary judgment to the SEC on its claim that sales of digital tokens constitute investment contracts under the Securities Act.
On September 30, 2020, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein granted...more
The Situation: Federal prosecutors have asserted that two cryptocurrencies sold in initial coin offerings ("ICOs") are "securities" for purposes of federal securities laws in a criminal indictment alleging fraud against the...more
9/24/2018
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Indictments ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Contract ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Token Sales
The Situation: The Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Corporate Finance, William Hinman, has weighed in on when digital assets will be characterized as securities.
The Result: In...more
6/26/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Ether ,
Goods or Services ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales