The SEC currently has several notable rule proposals that have received public comment but have not yet been finalized. The potential direction of these proposals is likely to be influenced by the leadership of the new SEC...more
2/10/2025
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholder Proposals
In April 2023, the SEC re-proposed amendments to Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to expand the definition of what it means to be an exchange. When the SEC initially proposed these amendments in January 2022, there were zero direct...more
10/12/2023
/ Alternative Trading System (ATS) ,
Blockchain ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Contract ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation
Interest in engaging in a crypto business seems to be at an all-time high, including doing so in or through regulated and compliant businesses in traditional financial services firms. Brokers-dealers sit atop that list....more
On July 21, 2022, the SEC charged three individuals with insider trading of digital assets via a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding crypto assets being made available on a United States-based digital...more
7/25/2022
/ Criminal Conspiracy ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Indictments ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wire Fraud
In March 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rules that would greatly expand the Exchange Act definition of “dealer” and essentially kill the distinction between dealers and traders long-recognized by...more
7/15/2022
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Joe Biden ,
Market Participants ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Dealers ,
Securities Exchange Act
It came as no surprise that FINRA’s 2022 Examination and Risk Monitoring Program Report highlighted communications with the public as a continued area of focus. The primary theme across this focus area relates to the...more
On March 9, 2022, President Biden issued the Executive Order Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets setting forth six principal policy objectives in furtherance of U.S. initiatives in the crypto and digital asset...more
On January 10, 2022, tZERO’s ATS settled a matter with the SEC in which it agreed to an $800,000 fine. Given the size of the penalty and substantial attention on the SEC’s approach to regulating digital asset securities,...more
Christmas came early for many in the digital asset community by way of a statement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) on December 23, 2020 that grants relief in the area of broker...more
12/28/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Securities ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In early November 2020, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Investment Management (“IM Division”), in consultation with the SEC’s “FinHub” staff, issued a statement in response to a...more
U.S. broker-dealer activity involving digital assets could implicate various FINRA rules in addition to federal and state securities laws and SEC rules. As most readers likely know by now, whether this activity is of...more