This BitBlog summary focuses on the continuing actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against the issuers of noncompliant initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and other crypto related transactions including...more
10/29/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Default Judgment ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Ether ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Fund Managers ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Regulation A ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
This summary covers the last two weeks which includes news about continued enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) involving fraudulent digital asset transactions, dismissal of a securities...more
10/2/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ether ,
Extortion ,
FBI ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Adviser ,
Legal Opinion ,
Offerings ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rewards Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Startups ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
This week’s summary includes updates on anti-money laundering in the crypto-friendly nation of Malta and a proposal to regulate cryptocurrency miners in the United States to help stop human trafficking....more
9/18/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
France ,
Gold ,
Human Trafficking ,
IMF ,
International Finance ,
Malta ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Startups ,
Strategic Planning ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The Polsinelli BitBlog Weekly Update begins with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (“SEC”) settlement with an issuer of securities, who managed to both illegally offer securities, and create an unlicensed exchange to trade...more
9/11/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bad Faith ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Transactions ,
FINMA ,
Illegal Trading ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mobile Apps ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Pyramid Schemes ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Strict Compliance ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Policies ,
Willful Violations
This week saw two items of note in the regulation of digital assets and both came out of the state of New York.
The Return of the Empire State -
A New York State Supreme Court ruled that it has personal and subject...more
8/27/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blue Sky Laws ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injunctions ,
IRS ,
Martin Act ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
NY Supreme Court ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Tax Liability ,
Virtual Currency
Last week was a busy one for the SEC, and other crypto related litigation. That’s probably all we’re going to get while the battle between regulators and token issuers rages on, as Congress is not in session and many in the...more
The end of July saw continued regulatory activity in the digital assets space. This entry of BitBlog will cover some of the highlights.
1) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) continues to dole out bits of...more
8/12/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Mt.Gox ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
UK
As the summer continues to heat up so does the digital asset industry with two major developments.
The Libra announcement last month represented a milestone in the cryptocurrency industry....more
On May 7, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rulemaking) to implement portions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)....more
5/20/2019
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NPRM ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Telecommunications ,
Third-Party Service Provider
On January 22, 2019 FINRA, the self-regulatory organization for U.S. broker-dealers, released its “Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter” for 2019. A number of of FINRA’s hot topics for 2019 should be of interest...more
2/11/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Market Manipulation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales
QuadrigaCX, one of the largest Canadian cryptocurrency exchanges, recently left users in the lurch when it took its website offline and filed for creditor protection in Nova Scotia. ...more
2/7/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Books & Records ,
Canada ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Wallets ,
Encryption ,
Ether ,
Money Services Business ,
Payment Processors ,
Virtual Currency
On November 8, 2018, the SEC announced it had settled charges against Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta, a digital “token” trading platform. ...more
11/19/2018
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an important decision on statutes of limitations in class actions. As it has done several times this term, its decision in China Agritech resolves a relatively narrow issue in a...more
6/13/2018
/ Appeals ,
China Agritech Inc v Resh ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Equitable Tolling ,
FRCP 23 ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Subsequent Litigation
President Donald Trump effectively stopped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) so-called “arbitration rule,” signing legislation repealing the rule on Nov. 1. The rule would have prohibited providers of certain...more
11/28/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Trump Administration
A pair of recent opinions proves that when it comes to compelling arbitration in a consumer class action, presentation of the arbitration clause may matter more than favorable Supreme Court precedent. First, in Norcia v....more
3/28/2017
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mobile Devices ,
Motion to Compel ,
On-Demand Services ,
Samsung ,
Sharing Economy ,
Smartphones ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Text Messages ,
Uber ,
Warranties
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) scored an initial victory in what is sure to be a long legal battle over the so-called "fiduciary rule." Judge Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued...more
On June 27, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the case of Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC. The High Court’s decision will allow a consumer class action against...more
7/13/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Buyers ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
National Bank Act ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Usury
On May 16, 2016, the United States Supreme Court released its long-awaited opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins. In a 6–2 decision, the Court remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for further analysis of the plaintiff's...more
Lost in the commotion surrounding the Department of Labor's new fiduciary rule was the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of FINRA's recruitment bonus disclosure rule, which requires action by broker dealers when...more
The U.S. Department of Labor released its long anticipated "fiduciary rule" on April 6, 2016. The rule requires brokers and financial advisers to put their clients' interests ahead of their own when recommending retirement...more
4/21/2016
/ 401k ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Brokers ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Retirement Plan
On March 25, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Sgouros v. TransUnion Corp. in which the appeals court rejected TransUnion's effort to compel arbitration of a putative class action. The appeals court...more
When the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its study on the use of pre-dispute arbitration (PDA) clauses earlier this year, many expected the CFPB to propose a ban on all PDAs in contracts for consumer...more
10/20/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Automotive Loans ,
Bank Accounts ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Transfer ,
Payday Loans ,
PDA ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Public Disclosure
The general rule in litigation is that each side pays its own legal fees, regardless of who wins. There is no fee shifting. Exceptions to that general rule primarily exist in the form of contractual arrangements or statutes...more
On April 20, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court released an important decision restricting the use of so-called "Lone Pine" orders. See Antero Resources Corp. v. Strudley. Lone Pine orders require plaintiffs in toxic tort cases...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced what may be its boldest move yet: a $63 million enforcement action in coordination with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Minnesota-based mortgage...more