It was not part of the recently concluded Golden Globes ceremony, but last week both the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority...more
1/14/2020
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
OCIE ,
Regulation BI ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers
Two weeks ago, a federal court of appeals sided with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ruling that a district court could not require the testimony of three commissioners and various staff to assess whether the agency...more
11/5/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Civil Contempt Orders ,
Consent Order ,
Contempt ,
Criminal Contempt ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Gag Orders ,
Kraft ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission publicized a cascade of settlements of enforcement actions alleging breaches of laws and rules related to supervision, spoofing, reporting, and misappropriation of...more
10/8/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Misleading Statements ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Swap Dealers
Two food giants agreed to resolve charges brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that they manipulated or attempted to manipulate prices of the Chicago Board of Trade’s December 2011 wheat futures contract and...more
8/19/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
NYDFS ,
Price Manipulation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Last week a Canada-based social media company answered charges filed against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2019 that alleged its 2017 initial sale of digital tokens constituted an unlawful securities...more
8/13/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
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
7/25/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Customer Service Standard ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Securities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investor Protection ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Joint Statements ,
Rule 15c3-3 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
SIPA
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission brought separate enforcement actions against the portfolio manager of a hedge fund for mismarking valuations of interest rate swaps in order...more
7/23/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Interest Rate Swaps ,
Investment Adviser ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
TRACE
BROKER-DEALER -
FINRA Publishes Notice to Members Encouraging Continued Disclosure of Digital Assets Activities –
On July 18, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published Regulatory Notice 19-24...more
7/22/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Offerings ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Virtual Currency
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
7/16/2019
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Management ,
Joint Statements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIPA
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority proposed to ban the marketing and sale in or from the UK to retail persons of derivatives and exchange-traded notes based on cryptocurrencies and utility digital tokens,...more
7/9/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Hong Kong ,
Margin Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Token Sales ,
Utility Tokens ,
Virtual Currency
Last week, a Canada-based social media company was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for purportedly conducting an unregistered securities offering to United States persons in connection with an initial coin...more
6/11/2019
/ ASIC ,
Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IOSCO ,
New Regulations ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
SEC/CORPORATE -
SEC Proposes Amendments to Update the Accelerated and Large Accelerated Filer Definitions -
On May 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to the accelerated filer and large...more
5/20/2019
/ Accelerated Filers ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
CRD IV Directive ,
CRR II ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
ICFR ,
Internal Controls ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smaller Reporting Companies ,
Threshold Requirements
Last week may not have been the best of times or the worst of times (to borrow from Charles Dickens), but it was undoubtedly a time that three United States financial services regulators issued important guidance on disparate...more
5/14/2019
/ CFTC ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
The New York Department of Financial Services was told by a federal court in New York that it could proceed with its lawsuit challenging plans of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to accept and consider...more
5/7/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
National Bank Charters ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter
New York regulators continued an aggressive approach against certain entities engaged in virtual currency businesses when the state's Attorney General’s office obtained an ex parte order precluding companies associated with a...more
4/30/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Instruments ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
LabCFTC ,
NYDFS ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wire Fraud
The watchdog arm of the Securities and Exchange Commission – the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations – issued a Risk Alert summarizing breakdowns in compliance by broker-dealers and investment advisers of their...more
4/23/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Multinationals ,
OCIE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation S-ID ,
Regulation S-P ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Unexpectedly, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a new initiative to encourage non-registrants to self-report foreign corrupt practices, which it claimed might also constitute violations of laws and rules it...more
3/12/2019
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodities Traders ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Swaps ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued proposed guidance concluding that only security tokens among the three principal types of cryptoassets are under the regulator’s oversight umbrella. Cryptocurrencies and utility...more
1/29/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Consultation ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
ETFs ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Money Transmitter ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
UK
Prior to having most of its routine work suspended because of the US government partial shutdown, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspection unit published its 2019 examination priorities. These included reviewing...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a request for input regarding the virtual currency ether. It wants to understand better how bitcoin and ether are different, and any unique qualities of ether (ETH), as it...more
12/17/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFTC ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ether Tokens ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internal Controls ,
NFA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
During the prior two weeks, three financial authorities in the United Kingdom as well as the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued reports assessing distributed ledger technology and risks associated with the...more
11/5/2018
/ Accredited Investors ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Futures ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Retail Investors ,
UK
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission revised its rule related to the responsibilities of chief compliance officers of futures commission merchants, swap dealers and major swap participants, as well as the obligations of...more
8/28/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulation SHO ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Smaller Reporting Companies ,
Virtual Currency
A commodity merchandising firm was fined US $6.55 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Chicago Board of Trade combined for attempting to manipulate the prices of wheat futures contracts. However, its...more
7/23/2018
/ CFTC ,
CPOs ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fraud ,
Price Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Whistleblower Awards
A commodity merchandising firm was fined US $6.55 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Chicago Board of Trade combined for attempting to manipulate the prices of wheat futures contracts. However, its...more
BROKER-DEALER -
FINRA Encourages Firms To Disclose Activities Related to Digital Assets -
On July 6, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published Regulatory Notice 18-20, which encourages member firms to...more
7/16/2018
/ Bonds ,
Consultation ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
ISDA ,
MiFID II ,
Prospectus ,
Senior Management Regime (SMR) ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit