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
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against Xue Samuel Lee, the co-founder of HyperFund, and Brenda Indah Chunga, also known as “Bitcoin Beautee,” the fund’s top promoter, for securities violations. ...more
Affinity fraud is a type of investment fraud. In this form of fraud, the person committing the fraud preys upon members of an identifiable group, such as a religious or ethnic community, the elderly, or a professional group....more
On August 14, 2023, in a rare whistleblower award opinion, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) denial of a whistleblower award in Granzoti v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2023...more
This summer was a busy one for cryptocurrency regulators, with aggressive actions potentially signaling an increase in consumer protection compliance activity. In August alone, the New York Department of Financial Services...more
In the 1920s, a new form of investment fraud roared into the markets with the advent of the Ponzi scheme. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint captioned SEC v. Okhotnikov et al. in the...more
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd (Herbalife) recently concluded a long running Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action with both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Herbalife...more
This issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between October 2019 and January 2020. ...more
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
For the past few months, issuers of token sales or “initial coin offerings” (ICOs) have known that they were, to some extent, sailing in unchartered waters. Those waters have just gotten a bit murkier with an announcement by...more
Over the past two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up enforcement actions against pyramid schemes and related affinity frauds. Last week, in a speech at the University of Illinois at Chicago,...more
The SEC prevailed in one court case this week but lost in another. In an investment fund fraud action the agency won at trial. In the First Circuit, however, it lost in an appeal of the long running action against two former...more
September 30th Madness dominated this week. The drive for stats was evident as the Commission stacked up cases like cord wood at a pace seldom seen. Twenty-two municipal bond actions were filed in one swoop; an insider...more
The Yates Memo, refocusing DOJ criminal and civil corporate investigations, continues to be the critical topic of discussion this week. The Memo, discussed here, directs that individuals be the focus of the inquiry from the...more
The SEC filed three actions following-up on its settled proceeding against Oppenheimer for selling millions of shares of unregistered penny stocks. Each individual settled with the agency. In addition, the Commission brought...more
The Commission recently filed an amicus brief defending its Dodd-Frank whistleblower rules. Those rules specify that the anti-retaliation provisions of those amendments to the Exchange Act protect those who chose not to...more
Yesterday I blogged from the Securities Enforcement Forum 2014, Bruce Carton’s excellent one-day conference, held at the Four Seasons hotel in Washington, D.C. The posts will be fairly raw, and certainly not verbatim...more
The Commission announced its largest whistleblower action this week – an award to a person overseas of over $30 million. The agency also filed a series of actions this week....more
Following the disclosure of the massive Madoff fraud, Ponzi scheme cases became a staple of SEC enforcement. More recently the agency seems to be focusing on another type of investment fraud scheme — pyramid schemes. At the...more
The “cloud” is a current focus for investors. There is cloud computing, cloud storage and new firms with cloud services. And the Commission discovered a “cloud” investment program that promised a 100% return in 100 days and...more