On September 9, 2024, the Chief Accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Munter, delivered remarks describing circumstances in which, in the SEC staff’s view, entities may engage in cryptoasset...more
Across industries, companies are facing new and uncertain regulatory pressures and demands in areas including artificial intelligence, sustainability, algorithmic pricing and fintech-bank relations. In this issue of The...more
9/10/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Multinationals ,
Price-Fixing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
Rather than specifically regulating artificial intelligence (AI), the UK government has opted to rely on the existing web of laws and regulations applying to technology across a spectrum of sectors in its jurisdiction. But...more
5/13/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
Popular ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
Hong Kong regulators recently brought criminal enforcement actions against virtual asset trading platform JPEX and individuals associated with the platform. This case has become the first opportunity for local authorities to...more
11/16/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
Investors ,
Jurisdiction ,
Know Your Customers ,
Licensing Rules ,
Misleading Statements ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities ,
Stablecoins ,
Stock Trades ,
Trading Platforms
On September 7, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued three enforcement settlement orders against developers of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The orders charge Opyn, Inc., Deridex, Inc., and...more
On July 13, 2023, Judge Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a much-awaited summary judgment decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2023),...more
7/18/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities
On February 7, 2023, Ishan Wahi (Ishan), a former Coinbase product manager, pled guilty to wire fraud charges in an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)....more
On November 7, 2022, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued an order in SEC v. LBRY, Inc., granting the SEC’s motion for summary judgment against LBRY Inc. (LBRY). The court...more
State securities regulators in Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey and Texas filed coordinated enforcement actions on October 20, 2022, against Slotie NFT d/b/a slotie.com requiring the company to stop selling various Slotie...more
On September 22, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) (1) issued an order settling charges against protocol creator bZeroX, LLC and its founders, and (2) filed a federal civil enforcement action...more
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice released four much-anticipated reports on different aspects of cryptoasset regulation. They confirm the Biden administration’s broad but...more
9/29/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
On July 21, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each brought insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager, his brother and a close friend for using...more
7/27/2022
/ CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Confidential Information ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The recent indictment of an employee of OpenSea, a prominent NFT marketplace, highlights the risk of trading digital assets based on the improper use of confidential information, even where the digital asset is not a...more
This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe, including expanded reporting requirements for broadly defined cryptocurrency “brokers,” a...more
8/27/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BitMEX ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Smart Contracts
This issue discusses a variety of legal, regulatory and enforcement developments in the digital asset space in the U.S. and Europe....more
4/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
Recent and significant regulatory and legislative events in the digital asset space demonstrate the evolving and expanding approach by U.S. and international regulators to the burgeoning digital asset markets. These...more
10/31/2020
/ Banks ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Global Market ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
OCC ,
OECD ,
Offshore Listings ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Restricted Transactions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Smart Contracts ,
Stablecoins ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taxation ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
In this month's edition, we examine the Court of Justice of the European Union's decision invalidating the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, as well as the U.S. government's response to the decision. We also examine two...more
8/6/2020
/ Automotive Industry ,
Binding Corporate Rules ,
Broadband Privacy Rules ,
Connected Cars ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Economic Loss Doctrine ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Hackers ,
Insurance Industry ,
International Data Transfers ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Misrepresentation ,
Negligence ,
NYDFS ,
Online Platforms ,
P2B ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Security Breach ,
Standard Contractual Clauses ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
UK ,
UK Data Protection Act ,
United Nations
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney General ,
Backstop Agreements ,
BEPS ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Covenant Lite Deals ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
DACA ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Debt Financing ,
Debtors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Disgorgement ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Down Rounds ,
Drug Pricing ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Issuers ,
FRCP 23 ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Elections ,
GILTI tax ,
High-Yield Markets ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intercreditor Agreements ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
IRS ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Japan ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Multinationals ,
National Security ,
PCAOB ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Parties ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Offerings ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Refinancing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Release Agrements ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
White Collar Crimes
In 2019, regulators continued to consider whether and how to regulate blockchain technology. After the two previous years that included a high number of initial coin offerings (ICOs), many of which involved allegedly...more
1/21/2020
/ BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Securities ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Stability Board ,
FinHub ,
Fraud ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Stablecoins ,
Supervisory Guidance ,
Technology Sector ,
Virtual Currency
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we take a look at guidance on artificial intelligence released by the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office and the Turing Institute, as well as guidance...more
1/3/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Management ,
Data Protection ,
Draft Guidance ,
Email ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Information Management ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Misleading Statements ,
NAIC ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Terms of Service ,
Transparency ,
Voluntary Disclosure
In this month's edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine Brazil's new data protection regulation, the French data protection authority's warning to two companies of potential GDPR violations and the U.S....more
9/7/2018
/ Appeals ,
Brazil ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
CNIL ,
Computer Fraud Insurance ,
Consent ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection Acts ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Data Protection Officers (DPOs) ,
Data Retention ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Email ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
France ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Geological Data ,
International Data Transfers ,
Japan ,
Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) ,
NCCIC ,
Personal Data ,
Policy Terms ,
Popular ,
Public Private Partnerships (P3s) ,
Reciprocity Rules ,
Reversal ,
Scams ,
Social Engineering ,
Spoofing ,
Standard Contractual Clauses ,
Warning Letters ,
Wire Fraud
The market for cryptocurrencies and the current wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that seek to raise capital for blockchain-based projects have enjoyed a swell of popularity in recent years. U.S. regulatory agencies and...more
6/20/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Breach of Contract ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Contract ,
Popular ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Token Sales ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Unregistered Securities
On March 6, 2018, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that virtual currencies are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and therefore subject to the...more
3/8/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Market Manipulation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Standing ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Virtual Currency
In this edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we discuss how the prospect of a new chair and three new commissioners at the FTC may impact the agency's approach to cybersecurity regulation, a new Massachusetts...more
2/4/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Framework ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Internet of Things ,
NIST ,
OCR ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Public Disclosure ,
Software ,
Swiss Privacy Shield ,
Trump Administration
This past year has been called the "year of the massive data breach," with many high-profile attacks on well-known companies. Skadden partners Cyrus Amir-Mokri, Patrick Fitzgerald, Marc S. Gerber, Stuart D. Levi and Timothy...more
1/27/2015
/ Best Practices ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Popular ,
Retailers ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Target