On December 23, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced a consent order with a lender to resolve its investigation into the company’s crypto-backed lending program, which the...more
3/3/2025
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Loans ,
Settlement ,
State and Local Government
On February 12, the Trump administration announced Jonathan McKernan as the Director of the CFPB and Jonathan Gould as the Comptroller of the Currency. McKernan and Gould will replace Acting Directors Russell Vought and...more
On January 2, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed an interpretive rule under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E to clarify how emerging payment systems, such as those used in...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
12/9/2024
/ Blockchain ,
Blocked Person ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Hackers ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury
On February 7, a Florida-based cryptocurrency company agreed to settle charges brought by the SEC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation alleging that, an interest-earning feature offered on the...more
On July 13, the FTC issued a press release announcing that it had reached a settlement with a bankrupt crypto platform. The New Jersey based company, which filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, marketed a variety of...more
On June 16, Michael Hsu, the Acting Comptroller of the Currency gave remarks at the American Bankers Association’s Risk and Compliance Conference about the risks of tokenization and AI on the banking industry. While...more
On May 1, NYDFS settled with a cryptocurrency trading platform over the company’s cybersecurity deficiencies, resulting in a consent order and $1.2 million fine for the crypto company. NYDFS alleged “multiple deficiencies in...more
5/15/2023
/ Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Settlement ,
Trading Platforms
On March 16, NYDFS entered a consent order resolving an examination of a payment service provider that allows merchants to accept Bitcoin payments from customers in exchange for the equivalent value in local currency credited...more
On January 26, the California DFPI announced its participation in a $22.5MM multi-state into a settlement with a with a Cayman Islands digital asset firm to resolve a securities enforcement action in connection with the...more
On January 23, the NY DFS released updated guidance with regard to better protecting consumers in the event of virtual currency insolvency. This updated guidance applies to entities that DFS has licensed or chartered to hold...more
On January 27, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) announced that it unanimously voted to deny a crypto firm’s application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System. This denial ends the crypto firm’s 27-month effort to...more
On November 22, the CFPB denied a crypto lending institution’s petition for an order modifying a pending civil investigative demand (“CID”) that the Bureau issued to the institution in December of 2021. The CFPB issued the...more
On September 7, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu, discussed the long-term threats to trust in banking in remarks at the TCH + BPI Annual Conference. Hsu provided updates on key priorities at the OCC, including...more
9/16/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Comptroller ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Risk Management
On July 27, CFPB Director Chopra was interviewed in multiple publications, here and here, about, among other topics, how the CFPB could seek to help mortgage borrowers strained by the Federal Reserve’s battle against...more
On July 11, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a letter sent to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors outlining concerns over the rapid growth in crypto-assets and vulnerabilities facing the global...more
On June 30, the DOJ charged six individuals in four separate cases for a fraudulent NFT trading scheme.
The first case alleged that an individual committed wire fraud and engaged in a conspiracy to commit international...more
Recently, the Louisiana lawmakers and regulators have taken steps to legalize operations in the state involving virtual currencies. On June 15, the Louisiana governor signed a bill that, effective August 1, 2022, will allow...more
On July 12, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it is investigating multiple crypto companies that offer interest-bearing crypto asset accounts. These accounts allow users to...more
On June 14, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero discussed cryptocurrency regulation, rejecting suggestions that the agency would take a relaxed approach toward regulating cryptocurrency and affirming that the CFTC is...more
On June 8, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) released its Guidance on the Issuance of U.S. Dollar-Backed Stablecoins meant to set foundational criteria for USD-backed stablecoins issued by...more
On June 1, the California DFPI began formally seeking input from the public to assist in developing guidance and regulatory clarity for Blockchain and Crypto companies as directed by Governor Newsom’s Executive Order (which...more
6/8/2022
/ Blockchain ,
California ,
Comment Period ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Governor Newsom ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
On May 19, Alessio Evangelista, the Associate Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division of FinCEN, presented at the Chainalaysis Links Conference on the topic of “Intersection of Cryptocurrencies and National...more
On May 24, the acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu remarked at the DC Blockchain Summit 2022 about his observations on the “deep” vulnerabilities of cryptocurrency in light of the recent market volatility and...more
On May 10, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen presented the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Annual Report before the Senate Banking Committee about the need for sensible stablecoin legislation (we have previously...more