Navigating 2025: Trends in OFAC and DOJ Enforcement for Digital Assets — The Crypto Exchange Podcast
Virtual Currency Regulations: Key Insights for the Payments Industry — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 54 - The Flaws of FARA: Feeble Oversight of Billions in Foreign Influence
Episode 352 -- Review of 2024 DOJ and SEC Sanctions Enforcement and Compliance
Unpacking the Fifth Circuit's Landmark Tornado Cash Decision — The Crypto Exchange Podcast
The Justice Insiders Podcast - The Ever-Expanding Net: Corporate Compliance in an Era of Increasing Trade Sanctions and Restrictions
Episode 328 -- Sanctions Enforcement Risks and Redlines
Corruption, Crime and Compliance: Third-Party Risks and Sanctions Compliance
Episode 324 -- Third-Party Risks and Sanctions Compliance
Will Resiliency Carry the Digital Asset Sector Through 2024: Federal Legislative Developments and OFAC Consent Orders — The Crypto Exchange Podcast
Corruption, Crime & Compliance: Deep Dive into SCG Plastics’ $20 Million Settlement with OFAC to Resolve Violations of Iran Sanctions Program
Episode 319 -- Deep Dive into SCG Plastics' $20 Million Settlement with OFAC for Violations of the Iran Sanctions Program
Wiley's 10 Key Trade Developments: Evolution of Export Controls
Wiley’s Top 10 Trade Developments: Heightened Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement
Corruption, Crime and Compliance: Trade Compliance Trends and Expectations with Gabrielle Griffith
Episode 308 -- Gabrielle Griffith, Director BPE Global, on Trade Compliance
Corruption, Crime and Compliance: DOJ and OFAC Sanctions Enforcement Review for 2023
Episode 307 -- Sanctions Enforcement Review and Predictions for 2024
Episode 302 -- Matt Stankiewicz on DOJ's Massive Criminal Settlement with Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao
Episode 294 -- Catch Up on OFAC Enforcement: 3M and Emigrant Bank
On 21 March 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer, from its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List),...more
We find ourselves in the midst of a raucous debate among sanctions practitioners about the impact of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision upholding a challenge against the sanctions the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)...more
In this episode of the Crypto Exchange, Ethan Ostroff is joined by colleagues Pete Jeydel and Matt Orso to discuss a recent landmark decision from the Fifth Circuit regarding Tornado Cash. The court ruled that the Office of...more
Shortly before Thanksgiving, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) did not have the authority to sanction Tornado Cash, which offers a...more
CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates the stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's...more
On November 26, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that “immutable” smart contracts are not “property” for purposes of regulation by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
The Fifth Circuit held that Tornado Cash, open-source computer code known as an immutable “smart contract”, is not “property” and thus cannot be subject to blocking sanctions pursuant to IEEPA and EO 13694....more
On November 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) exceeded its authority by adding an entity that pools and anonymizes crypto transactions to OFAC’s...more
On November 26, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a landmark decision holding that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) exceeded its statutory authority by...more
On November 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded a decision by the district court regarding the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) designation of a virtual currency mixer software...more
On November 26, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against a decentralized cryptocurrency mixing service (a...more
In a closely watched and complicated case, Van Loon et al. v. Dep’t of the Treasury et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) cannot sanction Tornado...more
On November 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury that invalidated economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) on...more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week...more
On November 26, 2024, in a three-judge panel decision, Van Loon v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) reversed a Texas district court and held that immutable...more
In a ruling eagerly awaited by the cryptocurrency industry, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that immutable smart contracts on the Tornado Cash crypto-transaction software protocol are not “property” subject...more
Crypto’s two calling cards, decentralization and anonymity, can lead to abuses, such as money laundering and tax evasion. The U.S. Treasury has long combatted crypto money laundering...more
The United States manages more than three dozen separate economic and trade sanctions programs. Those programs target specified foreign governments along with thousands of named individuals, groups and entities in accordance...more
On November 21, 2023, The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced settlement agreements with Binance Holdings Limited (“Binance”), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Changpeng Zhao (affectionally known as...more
On November 21, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed its criminal indictment against Binance.com (Binance), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao (CZ). The indictment against...more
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
In two prior posts, this blog tracked the ongoing intrigue of how the various branches of the United States government interact with blockchain and cryptocurrency organizations. We discussed the Wyoming law allowing...more
Crypto Asset Company Settles Sanctions Violations for $7.5 million- On May 1, the U.S. Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $7.5 million settlement with crypto asset company Poloniex LLC for 65,942 apparent...more
Executive Summary - The North Korean threat to the crypto ecosystem is the highest form of immediate risk to the crypto-economy driven by a regime that seeks to profit from its misuse to reinforce its regime and fuel all its...more