In This Issue. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (together, the Agencies) issued a final rule...more
The staff (“Staff”) of the Division of Trading and Markets of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter (NAL) at the request of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on...more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to create a new category of “seasoned” qualified mortgages; the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of...more
In This Issue. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a Risk Alert about the scope and content of examinations OCIE plans to conduct of various...more
On October 11, 2019, the leaders of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a...more
Based on a recent regulatory statement, entities involved with cryptocurrency or digital assets should revisit their anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism obligations (AML/CFT) compliance under the...more
Earlier this month, the leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a joint statement reminding individuals...more
On October 11, 2019, the heads of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), issued a joint statement...more
U.S. Developments - U.S. Federal Regulatory Developments - CFTC, FinCEN, and SEC Leaders Release a Join Statement on Digital Assets - On October 11, 2019, the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”),...more
The leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Agencies”) issued a joint statement to remind persons engaged in...more
In line with its previous guidance, FINRA has granted broker-dealer (but not custodian) status to a digital asset platform. In a follow-up to the July 2019 SEC and FINRA joint staff statement (Joint Statement) clarifying...more
On July 8, 2019, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Trading and Markets and the staff of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a joint statement outlining...more
The Staffs of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Office of General Counsel (jointly, Staffs) issued a Joint Statement on July 8, 2019...more
On July 8, the Division of Trading and Markets for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of General Counsel for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a joint statement (the...more
Last week, the Staffs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (collectively, the Staffs) released a Joint Statement concerning the application of the SEC’s...more
On July 12, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) joined the call to prepare for the transition away from LIBOR. The staff of several Divisions of the SEC (the Divisions of Corporation Finance (DCF),...more
As part of the continuing dialogue with market participants working toward developing methodologies for establishing possession or control by broker-dealers over their customers' digital asset securities, on July 8, 2019, the...more
U.S. Developments - Regulatory Developments - SEC and FINRA Issue Joint Statement on Digital Asset Custody Issues - On July 8, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry...more
The SEC signaled last week that it appears to be growing more comfortable approving certain digital asset activities, qualifying the first two initial coin offerings ever to proceed as registered securities....more
The Situation: The Staffs of the Divisions of Corporation Finance, Investment Management and Trading and Markets ("Divisions") of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and its Office of the Chief Accountant...more
The staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets (Division) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (collectively, the “Regulators”) published a joint...more
Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a joint statement setting forth concerns they have with the ability of broker-dealers to comply with the SEC’s Customer...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have issued a joint statement clarifying how their traditional regulatory approaches would apply to how broker-dealers handle their...more
A joint statement issued by the staffs of the SEC and FINRA provides insight into the issues under consideration regarding broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities, such as initial coin offerings. The SEC and FINRA...more
On Monday, July 8th, FINRA and the SEC took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities. In doing so, the Staffs of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets and of...more