Congress continues to plug along on crypto policy. The Senate’s attention – on a bipartisan basis – has been focused on extending Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory authority to the digital assets space. This continues to...more
2/21/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
Key Points -
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s “Bridgegate” decision in Kelly v. United States, a divided panel in the 2nd Circuit reversed its prior decision in United States v. Blaszczak, and held that a federal...more
Key Points -
The SEC’s Division of Examinations published a risk alert that, in the context of a focus on MNPI, highlighted observed deficiencies related to the use of alternative data by private fund managers and other...more
Key Points -
The SEC has charged App Annie, Inc. and its former CEO with violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, which constitute the primary mechanism for enforcing insider trading violations.
This...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a long history of adopting novel theories in litigation to convince the courts to expand the scope of the federal insider trading laws.
The SEC's latest effort comes in an...more
8/31/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Confidential Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Misappropriation ,
Private Funds ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Scienter ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in federal court in California premised on the novel legal theory that the insider trading laws apply where an insider uses confidential information...more
8/25/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Confidential Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Misappropriation ,
Private Funds ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Scienter ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
In the last three weeks, the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed several complaints and resolved a number of open enforcement actions involving investment advisers. At first...more
- Market participants should review and assess their compliance procedures to prevent and detect insider trading risks associated with COVID-19.
- Companies should increase their vigilance regarding cybersecurity threats...more
4/1/2020
/ CFTC ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Insider Trading ,
Investors ,
Phishing Scams ,
Pump and Dump ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wire Fraud
Key Points:
The 2nd Circuit has issued a landmark decision for insider trading enforcement that will make it significantly easier for the government to prosecute insider trading in criminal cases.
The decision may also...more
• The CFTC has filed a new “insider trading” enforcement action involving the energy markets—the agency’s third energy market insider trading case since 2015.
• The CFTC also created an Insider Trading and Information...more
10/3/2018
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Asset Management ,
Breach of Duty ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Confidential Information ,
Electricity ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FERC ,
Insider Trading ,
Market Manipulation ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities Fraud
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff made official statements regarding when a token may or may no longer be a security
• The SEC continued to bring actions related to cryptocurrency offerings against...more
9/24/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Counter-Terrorist ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Digital Currency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Income Taxes ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
IRS ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
National Futures Association ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Websites
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated previously, it is continuing to scrutinize and commence enforcement actions against companies, advisors and investors involved in the offering of cryptocurrencies...more
9/19/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
Misleading Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Registration Statement ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a securities fraud claim alleging that Yelp fraudulently inflated its stock price by misleading investors about its practices concerning the business...more
11/29/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Investors ,
Loss Causation ,
Misleading Statements ,
Online Reviews ,
Price Inflation ,
Scienter ,
Securities Fraud ,
Stock Prices ,
Yelp
• A divided 2nd Circuit holds that there is no requirement for a “meaningfully close personal relationship” between a tipper and tippee in order for the tipper to reap a personal benefit from the disclosure sufficient to give...more
This week, the Supreme Court in Kokesh v. SEC unanimously held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) equitable disgorgement remedy is subject to a five-year statute of limitations because it is a “penalty”...more