Money services businesses (MSBs), a category which includes money transmitters (e.g., PayPal and other payment facilitators), as well as administrators and exchangers of convertible virtual currencies (e.g., Bitcoin...more
We are pleased to share the July 2024 issue of Wilson Sonsini's Sustainability and ESG Advisory Practice Update. Each issue combines news, key legal developments, and resources related to sustainability and environmental,...more
8/1/2024
/ Asia ,
Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Green Finance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
U.S. Treasury
New Regulations Will Require Additional Diligence for a Broad Array of Transactions, Including Many Investments in U.S. and Global Businesses -
On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) issued a Notice of...more
6/26/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
China ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Popular ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury
In this latest edition, our attorneys discuss updates and developments from federal regulators, including those related to the intersection of fintech and artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and virtual currency updates,...more
New rules proposed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), released on April 11, 2024, can be understood in two ways: the practical effects and signaling effects....more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed a sweeping expansion of the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) affirmative anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of...more
2/27/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Terrorist Financing
In this issue, we discuss updates and developments from federal regulators, including those related to the intersection of fintech and artificial intelligence, crypto-asset and central bank digital currencies, and consumer...more
In this most recent issue, we discuss a number of updates and developments from federal regulators, including those related to novel banking arrangements, misrepresentations in advertisements and marketing, the intersection...more
On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law California Assembly Bill 39, California’s Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). DFAL will regulate “digital financial assets” and require companies engaged...more
On October 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (proposed rule) addressing “mixing transactions” that involve convertible...more
On August 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for its alleged violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) prohibition on...more
In this most recent issue, we discuss a number of federal banking agency updates, including the long-awaited Final Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s report on the...more
8/23/2023
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
UK
One of the bigger surprises in the history of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) began to unfold in May 2023, when CFIUS posted a new Q&A on the FAQ section of the CFIUS website. The FAQ...more
M&A transactions involving financial services providers—including tech-based providers or “fintechs”—raise a host of unique questions based on the types of services they provide, which are often highly regulated and may...more
6/16/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Investment ,
Mergers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Agencies
Regulators are increasingly taking enforcement action against crypto asset industry participants for violating anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions laws. Regulators are concerned about the illicit use of crypto...more
6/14/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Instruments ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
NYDFS ,
U.S. Treasury
In keeping with its recent focus on the crypto asset industry, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced an agreement last week with crypto asset trading platform Poloniex, LLC...more
In this latest issue of the firm’s Focus on Fintech newsletter, our attorneys discuss the dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the increased scrutiny on banking activity, as well as a number of updates...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released its Illicit Finance Risk Assessment of Decentralized Finance (Assessment). This Assessment, part of a broad regulatory scrutiny of entities that...more
On March 23, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (proposed rule) that sets forth the national security guardrails for funding under the CHIPS and Science...more
On February 28, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) CHIPS Program Office published the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the CHIPS and Science Act. This initial FOA is directed...more
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Bitzlato Limited (Bitzlato), a crypto asset exchange business incorporated in Hong Kong, as a “primary money...more
In this latest issue of Wilson Sonsini's Focus on Fintech newsletter, we discuss the FTX bankruptcy and the increased federal regulatory scrutiny of crypto assets, and new rules and innovations in the payments...more
2/1/2023
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
The consent order issued by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to crypto asset exchange, Coinbase, serves as a reminder of regulators’ growing interest in ensuring that crypto asset companies meet their...more
On November 28, 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, agreed to pay $362,158.70 to settle charges relating to its...more
On October 20, 2022, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the Committee) issued its first-ever set of “Enforcement and Penalty Guidelines.” The Guidelines introduce for CFIUS participants a new...more