U.S. Developments -
Members of Congress Request SEC Clarity On Digital Securities Custody -
On December 9, a bipartisan group of representatives penned a letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton regarding the issue of...more
12/16/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Securities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
France ,
G7 ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Fraud ,
Tax Revenues ,
Thailand ,
Virtual Currency
Fifth Circuit Limits Privacy on Digital Asset Transactions -
On June 30, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Fifth Circuit) ruled that FBI agents who subpoenaed a cryptocurrency exchange for records...more
The OCC Announces New Acting Comptroller and Includes FinTech Charters Among Focuses -
On May 29, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), the primary federal regulator of national banks, announced Brian P....more
6/26/2020
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Services Committee ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ,
Voting Securities
On March 10, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued guidance and a request for assurance to financial institutions engaged in virtual currency business activity in New York. The request requires...more
U.S. Developments -
Members of Congress Respond to IRS Tax Guidance for Digital Assets -
On December 20, eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue...more
1/17/2020
/ Bahamas ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
IRS ,
Qatar ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
U.S. Developments -
Mark Zuckerberg Testifies Before U.S. House of Representatives Regarding Libra -
On October 23, Facebook, Inc. CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services regarding...more
11/1/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Contract ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Popular ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) published a framework on April 3, 2019, for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as a security...more
The Ethereum Classic blockchain was the victim of a 51% attack (often called a majority or Sybil attack) on January 5, 2019 that reorganized portions of the blockchain and allowed the attackers to double-spend 219,500 ETC...more
2/22/2019
/ ASIC ,
Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Ethereum ,
Popular ,
Private Right of Action ,
Virtual Currency
U.S. Developments -
Flood of State Virtual Currency Legislation -
Since the start of the new year there have been roughly nine virtual currency bills introduced or passed in four different states. Overall, the bills...more
1/24/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Government Shutdown ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Money Transmitter ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
U.S. Developments -
SEC Remarks on International Virtual Currency Enforcement -
On December 5, 2018, Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), gave a...more
12/13/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
FATF ,
FinCEN ,
FINMA ,
G20 ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Switzerland ,
The Clayton Act ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
On November 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), announced an action against two Iranian citizens, Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan, who facilitated the exchange of...more
On October 18, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced the launch of the agency’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub). FinHub is a resource for industry engagement between...more
On September 24, 2018, the French data protection authority, Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), became the first data protection authority to issue written guidance on the intersection of the use...more
10/15/2018
/ Bitcoin Mining ,
Blockchain ,
CNIL ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Processors ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
France ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Popular ,
Right to Erasure ,
Smart Contracts
New Appointments to the SEC and CFTC Have Their Eyes on Virtual Currency -
The U.S. Senate voted this week to confirm Dawn Stump (R) and Dan Berkovitz (D) as commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission...more
9/12/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Market ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
On August 7, Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied in part a motion to dismiss (the “Order”) sought by the defendants in In Re Tezos Securities Litigation (the “Tezos...more
8/31/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Forum Selection ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Popular ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
U.S. Developments -
Regulatory Updates -
New York Stock Exchange Owner to Offer New Ways to Invest in Digital Assets -
On August 3, the Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange,...more
8/8/2018
/ Blockchain ,
China ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Iran ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
South Korea ,
Token Sales ,
Vietnam
On July 18, 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), published its report to the July 2018 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting. The report sets out FATF’s ongoing work to fight money laundering...more
7/26/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
EU ,
FATF ,
FinCEN ,
G20 ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency