Navigating New Compliance Challenges: The Impact of the Money Transmitter Modernization Act on Payroll Processing - Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
As the world now knows, Binance Holdings Limited, doing business as Binance.com (“Binance” or the “Company”), has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”)....more
Regulators are increasingly taking enforcement action against crypto asset industry participants for violating anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions laws. Regulators are concerned about the illicit use of crypto...more
Two recent guilty pleas involving a cryptocurrency exchange serve as a reminder to all money services businesses (“MSBs”)—including those ostensibly located outside the United States but that conduct business there—of the...more
Cryptocurrency, and its most-noted asset Bitcoin, has been breaking into the mainstream press. While most lawyers have heard terms like “blockchain” and probably even know a few people who have been deeply interested in the...more
Recent action by the U.S. government reminds us that engaging in the cryptocurrency markets continues to present counterparty risk in the context of with whom you are doing business. Whether a company is buying cryptocurrency...more
On October 19, 2020, The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced its first action against a bitcoin mixer: a $60 million civil penalty against Larry Dean Harmon. Harmon was the founder and operator of Helix...more
Building off a 2018 alert outlining cyber threats generally, and following the federal indictment for money laundering of the founders of the offshore cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, on Oct. 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of...more
On October 8, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced the release of a Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework produced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Cyber-Digital Task Force. The 83-page framework is intended to help...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week and earlier this month civil forfeiture actions brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to seize stolen or laundered virtual currency...more
In a lesson to everyone that the use of foolish monikers will come back to haunt you, Kais Mohammad, 36, a.k.a. “Superman29,” has met his Kryptonite - the U.S. Department of Justice. ...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has indicted a man from Ohio for running Helix, a darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service that is alleged to have laundered bitcoins worth $300 million....more
Indictment Alleges that Bank and its Officers Used Front Companies to Evade Prohibitions on Iran’s Access to the U.S. Financial System - The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has charged Turkish state-owned...more
Last week’s wild economic ride combined with China’s currency-devaluing response (and, arguably, months more of trade-war-driven global uncertainty) led to the worst day on Wall Street since last December, with the Dow...more
Not an ideal report on the state of affairs for Zelle, the big banks’ payment-platform answer to Venmo. The Times reports that the “same features that make Zelle so useful for customers, its speed and ubiquity, have made it...more
The US and South Korea have announced a deal to renegotiate their trade pact, with “South agreeing to reduce its steel exports and open its market to American cares” in exchange for an exemption from the White House’s steel...more
On Wednesday, July 27, 2017, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a $110 million fine levied against BTC-e, a digital currency exchange, for BTC-e’s alleged refusal to abide by...more
It’s an Absolute Privilege to Meet You! Texas Supreme Court Rules That Internal Investigation Report Provided by Shell Oil to DOJ Enjoys “Absolute Privilege” - Why it matters: On May 15, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court...more
The US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California recently settled an enforcement action against Ripple Labs Inc., a Delaware corporation providing virtual currency exchange services. According to the settlement...more
In recent months, US federal and state regulators have continued to focus on Bitcoin and the adoption of a regulatory framework for it and other "virtual currencies," as well as the enforcement of existing securities laws to...more