On April 16, 2021, the staff of the SEC Division of Trading and Markets reminded broker-dealers borrowing fully paid and excess margin securities from their customers (FPL programs) that they are obligated to comply with...more
On March 15, 2021, ISDA published the ISDA 2021 Security-Based Swaps (SBS) Top-Up Protocol (the SBS Top-Up Protocol). The SBS Top-Up Protocol enables SBS dealers (SBSDs) and other market participants to comply with certain...more
On March 17, 2021, Acting CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam announced that the derivatives regulator had established a new interdivisional group called the Climate Risk Unit or the “CRU” to focus on the derivatives markets’ role in...more
On March 9, 2021, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw indicated that the SEC should take a tougher stance regarding corporate wrongdoers. In a virtual conference before the Council of Institutional Investors, Crenshaw conveyed...more
On March 11, 2021, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued a statement addressing cross trading among affiliated registered funds and soliciting feedback in this area. The staff issued the statement in...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that it will not enforce its own rule on investment duties under ERISA. The rule makes it more difficult for investment fiduciaries to consider environmental, social,...more
A flurry of recent climate-related announcements from the SEC forecasts an upcoming policy battle at the agency. Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee has signaled that “ESG” will clearly be in focus across the SEC’s various...more
The past few weeks have ushered in signs of what’s likely to come from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement under the Biden Administration, including a greater number of investigations and a tougher path to “bad boy” waivers for...more
The SEC, in one of the Commission’s final acts under the leadership of Chair Jay Clayton, approved enforcement action aimed at Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”) and two of its executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. The...more
Christmas came early for many in the digital asset community by way of a statement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) on December 23, 2020 that grants relief in the area of broker...more
12/28/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Custody ,
Customer Protection Rule ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Securities ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton announced that December 23, 2020 would be his last day at the helm of the agency.
This leads to the likely outcome that SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, or...more
In early November 2020, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Investment Management (“IM Division”), in consultation with the SEC’s “FinHub” staff, issued a statement in response to a...more
On Monday, November 16, 2020, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton announced his intention to depart from the agency by the end of 2020. News of Clayton’s decision comes as no real surprise, as it is typical for the SEC Chair to hand the...more
On October 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted 3-2 to propose a conditional exemption (“Exemption”) to permit natural persons to engage in limited securities activities as “finders” on behalf of...more
10/12/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Raising ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Exemptions ,
Finders ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Private Offerings ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Unregistered Brokers
This alert provides a brief discussion of the practice of using unregistered “finders” in the context of a private securities offering. We provide background on the process, discuss various risks and considerations, and...more
8/4/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Raising ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Finders ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Private Offerings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Unregistered Brokers ,
Unregistered Securities
On June 24, 2020, New York’s Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced a series of steps it is taking to promote development and opportunities in the virtual currency space. These actions would build upon New York’s...more
Never one to hold back, especially when it comes to crypto and blockchain matters, SEC Commissioner Peirce recently explained her views on the SEC’s settlement with Telegram and the agency’s approach to regulating the crypto...more
U.S. broker-dealer activity involving digital assets could implicate various FINRA rules in addition to federal and state securities laws and SEC rules. As most readers likely know by now, whether this activity is of...more
On June 16, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted registered municipal advisors (MAs) a temporary, limited exemption (Exemption) from broker-dealer registration to the extent that they solicit banks...more
In a public statement issued on June 15, 2020, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Clayton confirmed the June 30, 2020, deadlines for compliance with Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI) and the Form CRS...more
The compliance date of June 30, 2020, is looming for U.S. broker-dealers subject to Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI) and broker-dealers and investment advisers required to prepare and provide relationship summaries pursuant...more
5/19/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
On August 9, 2018, Kenneth A. Blanco, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), delivered remarks at the 2018 (Legal) Tech Conference at Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology. ...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally provided some good news, and guidance, regarding permissible token sales. On June 14, 2018, William Hinman, Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance, speaking at...more
This past week was a busy one for state securities regulators, the CFTC and the SEC as they continue their focus on rooting out fraud from the digital currency space and crypto- and blockchain-based ventures. Noteworthy...more
On February 7, 2018, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) issued guidance to all virtual currency businesses that maintain a “BitLicense” or that are chartered as a limited purpose trust company under...more