On June 5, 2023, the SEC filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, known to the world as...more
...On March 22, 2023, Coinbase, Inc. received a Wells notice from the SEC.
A Wells notice is the means by which the staff of the Enforcement Division informs someone it has decided to recommend the Commission bring an...more
DOJ Promotes Compliance Through Compensation and Clawback Programs (3.2.2023):
• The DOJ announced corporate criminal resolutions will now include a requirement that companies implement a compensation and bonus scheme...more
3/10/2023
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Bank Fraud ,
CFTC ,
Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Insider Trading ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements
In February 2021, an NFT for a 13-second video of a Lebron James dunking a basketball sold for $208,000. Because past and present wilt before Lebron’s greatness; because he contains multitudes. Also because Lebron is a...more
On March 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed an indictment charging Terren S. Peizer, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ontrak Inc., a publicly traded health care company, with engaging in...more
During this 30-minute webinar, Seward & Kissel partners from the Firm’s Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Group will discuss the SEC’s recent enforcement actions regarding recordkeeping failures related to...more
On January 12, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Genesis Global Capital LLC (Genesis) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) for the unregistered offer and sale of securities through the Gemini Earn...more
Yesterday, SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced proposed amendments to Rule 605 of Regulation NMS to modernize and expand disclosure requirements related to order execution quality. Chair Gensler stated that he was “pleased to...more
They say having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a LBRY card. But it may have just gotten a bit harder.
On November 7, 2022, in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire granted summary...more
On September 20th, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) entered a settled order (“Order”) against the wealth management arm of a global financial services firm (“Firm”) for its failure to protect...more
On September 27, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) entered into a series of settled orders (“Orders”) against 15 broker-dealers and one affiliated investment adviser for widespread failures by the...more
10/4/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Penalties ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
On September 8, 2022, in his remarks at the annual SEC Speaks conference, entitled Kennedy and Crypto, SEC Chair Gary Gensler declared:
Of the nearly 10,000 tokens in the crypto market, I believe the vast majority are...more
On July 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager, Ishan Wahi, his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and a friend, Sameer Ramani, for trading...more
8/15/2022
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Coinbase ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Injunctions ,
Insider Trading ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Violations
On June 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint against California-based broker-dealer Western International Securities, Inc. (“Western”) alleging violations of Regulation Best Interest...more
6/29/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Retail Installment Sales Contracts ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Securities Violations ,
Standard of Conduct
On June 13, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered a settled order (“Order”) against three of The Charles Schwab Corporation’s investment adviser subsidiaries (collectively, “Schwab”) on charges that...more
6/21/2022
/ Charles Schwab ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Statements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Management ,
Management Fees ,
Misleading Statements ,
Robo-Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the indictment of former OpenSea employee Nathaniel Chastain for an NFT “insider trading” scheme.
From at least June to...more