On June 17, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Nvidia Corp. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, agreeing to hear Nvidia’s appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived shareholders’ fraud claims regarding Nvidia’s...more
6/19/2024
/ Bitcoin Mining ,
Certiorari ,
Cryptocurrency ,
NVIDIA ,
Nvidia Corp v E Ohman J or Fonder AB ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
PSLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation
It was a busy year for enforcement activity in the cyber, crypto, SPAC, and whistleblower spaces, with several pending actions that will likely have wide-ranging implications in 2024. We are also awaiting a ruling from the...more
2/29/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Whistleblowers
As reported in more detail on our Regulatory Oversight blog, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations recently released its 2024 Examination Priorities report. The report underscores the SEC’s intent...more
10/31/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Digital Assets ,
Emerging Technologies ,
Financial Institutions ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On October 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (the Division) released its 2024 Examination Priorities report. The report highlights that future examinations will focus on “risk areas...more
10/31/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology
On October 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed its claims against Ripple Labs, Inc. (Ripple) executives Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen for allegedly aiding and abetting Ripple’s violations of...more
10/23/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Popular ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trading Platforms
In a long-awaited decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York held that Ripple Labs, Inc.’s (Ripple) XRP token is not, in and of itself, a security requiring...more
On April 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reopened the comment period for a January 2022 proposal that would subject cryptocurrency exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to the Securities...more
On December 8, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new guidance for publicly traded companies, advising them to disclose their exposure and risk in the cryptocurrency market to investors....more
A recent decision out of the District of New Hampshire underscores the risks proprietary cryptocurrency issuers face and provides ammunition to the SEC in its continued quest to classify cryptocurrencies as securities subject...more
In what the Manhattan federal prosecutors have touted as the first-ever guilty plea in an insider trading case involving cryptocurrency, the brother of a former Coinbase Global, Inc. (Coinbase) product manager pled guilty to...more
On May 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it will greatly expand its cryptocurrency and cybersecurity unit by adding 20 positions. The additional positions will bring the unit’s total members to...more
On March 31, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (Bulletin), noting that a company safeguarding or exerting custody over cryptocurrency on behalf of its platform users must...more
On March 31, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (Bulletin), noting that a company safeguarding or exerting custody over cryptocurrency on behalf of its platform users must...more
On March 31, a New York federal court dismissed a proposed securities class-action lawsuit filed against Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The lawsuit, one of a host of similar actions brought against...more
On March 9, President Biden signed an Executive Order (the Order) to establish the first comprehensive federal digital asset strategy for the U.S., which would promote digital asset innovation while balancing benefits and...more
On October 18, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued cease-and-desist letters directing two virtual currency lending platforms to cease “unregistered and unlawful” lending activities in New York State within 10 days,...more
On August 3, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler spoke on cryptocurrencies at the Aspen Security Forum — his first significant remarks regarding cryptocurrency since his confirmation in April....more