The US continues to ramp up sanctions pressure on Russia, now emphasizing Russian efforts to evade US export controls and obligations of financial institutions to police Russian efforts at sanctions and export controls...more
7/6/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Military Conflict ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Switzerland ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Last week, yet another US Department of Justice (DOJ) official reportedly stated new corporate settlements “most likely” will include a requirement that the company’s chief compliance officer (CCO), as well as the chief...more
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R- WY) introduced new proposed legislation on June 7, 2022, which would classify the vast majority of digital assets as commodities, and empower the Commodities Futures...more
6/14/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FERC ,
FinTech ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Investment Contract ,
NIST ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the unsealing of a first-of-its-kind indictment involving a digital asset “insider trading” scheme. The indictment charges Nathaniel...more
6/8/2022
/ Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
FBI ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Wire Fraud
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the UK, EU and US have all responded by announcing significant sanctions in respect of Russia and Belarus.
This briefing summarises the key developments since 25 April 2022 and...more
On May 13, 2022, a putative class action was filed in federal court against an online secondary marketplace that sells luxury goods (e.g., sneakers, handbags, and electronics) and, recently, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that...more
5/23/2022
/ Consumer Protection Laws ,
False Statements ,
Fraud ,
Implied Warranties ,
Material Misstatements ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Online Marketplace ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Warranties
Connecticut’s new consumer privacy law imposes enhanced privacy disclosures and assessment requirements on businesses, and provides consumer rights similar to those in Europe’s GDPR, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA),...more
5/18/2022
/ Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Privacy ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Personal Data ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
State Privacy Laws
On May 2, 2022, a putative class action was filed against a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and its members seeking to recover $55 million in cryptocurrency losses stolen during a hack into the DAO’s decentralized...more
On May 3, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the expansion of its newly styled Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (Unit) (formerly known as the Cyber Unit), housed within its Division of...more
5/10/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Howey ,
Lenders ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Working Groups
Our quarterly Financial Crime Horizon Scanner for the UK summarizes key financial crime related legal and regulatory changes expected over the next 2 years and provides electronic links to key resources.
We hope that you...more
5/2/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Belarus ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Real Estate Development ,
Russia ,
UK
Our quarterly Financial Crime Horizon Scanner for the US summarizes key financial crime related legal and regulatory changes expected over the next 2 years and provides electronic links to key resources.
We hope that you...more
5/2/2022
/ Belarus ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
On April 13, 2022, the Texas State Securities Board and Alabama Securities Commission issued separate emergency cease and desist orders (C&Ds) against Sand Vegas Casino Club and its two co-founders (Respondents). The C&Ds...more
4/27/2022
/ Casinos ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Digital Assets ,
Fraud ,
Howey ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
State Securities Regulators
Asset Freezes -
On 13 and 14 April 2022, the UK imposed asset freezes with respect to 208 individuals. This included alleged separatists, oligarchs, close associates and employees of oligarchs and individuals who have...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Updata!
Updata is an international report produced by Eversheds Sutherland’s dedicated Privacy and Cybersecurity team - it provides you with a compilation of key privacy and cybersecurity...more
After reports of humanitarian atrocities and further details of the continued Russian aggression in Ukraine emerged over the weekend, the United States and its allies responded with further sanctions and export controls. “The...more
On March 24, 2022, the Utah governor signed a consumer privacy law (the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, UCPA), marking the fourth state law to create enhanced data privacy rights and protections for consumers. The law will go into...more
The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA), passed as part of the omnibus spending bill on March 15, 2022, will require critical infrastructure companies - which could include financial...more
During the past week, the US continued to strengthen its sanctions against Russia as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine.
..BIS issued a final rule clarifying which luxury goods are subject to the ban on exports to...more
3/28/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
Russia ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the UK, EU and US have all responded by announcing significant sanctions in respect of Russia and Belarus.
The sanctions landscape has been changing at a fast pace and further...more
3/23/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Switzerland ,
UK ,
Ukraine
On March 7, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert calling on financial institutions to be “vigilant” in guarding against attempts to evade the recent imposition of expanded Russia sanctions....more
3/21/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
In an Executive Order (EO) issued March 9, 2022, President Joseph Biden set out the guiding principles for US policy on digital assets and digital asset regulation, including US policy with respect to a US Central Bank...more
On February 4, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury (the Treasury) released the “Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance through the Trade in Works of Art” (the Report). The Report examines the...more
2/18/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Art Dealers ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fine Art ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
There is no love lost between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto industry with tensions escalating over the past year. So it seems fitting that on Valentine’s Day, the SEC brought a...more
On January 26, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule (Proposed Rule) amending - and significantly broadening - a rule that defines certain terms used in the statutory definition of “exchange.”...more
On January 27, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in United States v. Connolly, overturning the 2018 fraud convictions of two former traders at a large financial institution. A...more
2/4/2022
/ Appeals ,
Bank Fraud ,
British Bankers' Association ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Statements ,
Fraud ,
Libor ,
Misleading Statements ,
Reversal ,
UK ,
Wire Fraud