The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund released an updated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification Application (Application).
This updated...more
3/7/2024
/ Applications ,
CDFI Fund ,
Certifications ,
Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
Loans ,
Mortgage-Backed Securities ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury
The year 2023 witnessed a recovery in the cryptocurrency and digital assets market corresponding with fewer crypto-related securities class action litigation actions than in 2022. Despite this decrease, the nature of the...more
Cryptocurrency, a digital form of currency that uses cryptography for security, has become a significant part of the global financial landscape. As such, it has also become an important consideration in estate planning. This...more
2/14/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Estate Planning ,
Ethereum ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Planning ,
Trusts
At a contentious open meeting on February 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) voted three to two to adopt rule amendments (Final Rules) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange...more
President Biden’s recent Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence:
Establishes a federal government-wide effort to mitigate risks of improper AI development and use....more
12/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Personal Data ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
California continues its initiatives to increase workplace diversity through a new law that will require certain funds with a nexus to California to report DEI information about the founding teams of their portfolio...more
12/8/2023
/ California ,
Capital Markets ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Transparency ,
Venture Capital
Starting July 1, 2025, any person or entity engaged in a “digital financial asset business activity” within California or with a California resident will be required to obtain a license from the California Department of...more
12/1/2023
/ Bitcoin ,
California ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Ethereum ,
Money Transmission Act ,
New Legislation ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins
The European Council (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament) announced on 30 June 2022 that they had reached a provisional agreement on the proposal for regulation on markets in cryptoassets (MiCA). The text of...more
10/6/2023
/ Cross-Border ,
Cryptoassets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
E-money tokens ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Council ,
European Parliament ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MiFID ,
Public Disclosure ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
Utility Tokens
Key Takeaways -
Following the SEC’s adoption, earlier this year, of changes to Form PF, large hedge fund advisers will face, for the first time, a requirement to report certain events to the SEC within 72 hours. ...more
9/21/2023
/ Clawbacks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
FSOC ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Amendments ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the “Court”) issued a major ruling against the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 29, 2023, holding that the SEC acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it...more
Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, recently suffered two major setbacks in federal regulatory efforts to block its use and prosecute its founders.
First, a federal district court threw out a lawsuit challenging the...more
9/11/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Foreign Entities ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
State Sponsors of Cyberattacks ,
U.S. Treasury
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a cease-and-desist order on August 28, 2023, charging Impact Theory, LLC (“Impact Theory”) with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in violation...more
9/8/2023
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethereum ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens
The SEC has proposed new rules designed to regulate potential conflicts of interest associated with broker-dealers’ and investment advisers’ use of certain AI-related technologies in their interactions with investors.
The...more
9/7/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Predictive Analytics ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
In the latest decision evaluating the application of federal securities laws to the digital asset context, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) ruled in favor...more
8/23/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investment Contract ,
Liquidity ,
New York ,
Profits ,
Registration Requirement ,
Ripple ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
ABS issuers have been exempted from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (“SEC”) final rule requiring certain cybersecurity risk and incident disclosure (the “Final Rule”).
The SEC left open the possibility of...more
8/17/2023
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Form 10-K ,
Form 8-K ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
EU institutions are aiming to reach an agreement on the final form AI Act through ongoing trilogue negotiations by the end of 2023.
The AI Act takes a risk-based approach and categorises AI systems into four risk levels:...more
On July 13, 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) issued a major ruling in in a closely-followed lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)...more
The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) has adopted draft Principles on Digital Assets and Private Law (the “Principles”). These Principles comprise legislative guidance and best practices in...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently announced two settlements that underscore OFAC’s continued emphasis on companies developing and implementing effective, risk-based...more
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rapidly evolve, policymakers are increasingly focused on its regulation to ensure the protection of individuals and the broader public interest. Following the publication of...more
6/14/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
CFTC Enforcement Manual ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cybersecurity ,
National Science Foundation ,
OMB ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management
Over the last six months, artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the public imagination in a way it never has before. A new generation of AI-powered language models make use of a deep learning architecture known as a...more
4/27/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cybersecurity ,
Due Diligence ,
ECOA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Lending ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Software
A Southern District of California federal district court in Sarcuni v. bZx DAO held on March 27, 2023, that decentralized autonomous organizations (“DAOs”), which are member-owned communities that maintain financial records...more
The line between free speech and brand protection remains blurry after a February jury verdict in the NFT case of Hermès Int’l. v. Rothschild and the recent Supreme Court oral arguments in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v....more
The line between free speech and brand protection remains blurry after a February jury verdict in the NFT case of Hermès Int’l. v. Rothschild and the recent Supreme Court oral arguments in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v....more
The 2022 decline in the cryptocurrency and digital assets market resulted in a year with more crypto securities class action litigation than any previous year. This article explores the 2022 crypto securities class action...more
3/30/2023
/ Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Investors ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Securities ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934