On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled enforcement actions with five registered investment advisers for failing to maintain and preserve internal electronic communications. These...more
1/20/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Penalties ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Remedial Actions ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation ,
Settlement ,
WhatsApp
On April 3, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement action against a registered investment adviser (RIA) with no ties to a broker-dealer regarding so-called “off-channel”...more
4/10/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Electronic Communications ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fund Managers ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
Key Points - In a thorough decision, a federal district judge in New York largely denied Coinbase’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a case brought by the SEC. Applying the plaintiff-friendly standards required at the...more
Last month, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it is considering new procedures under which it would publicly identify firms that are under investigation as soon as the investigation has been...more
4/1/2024
/ Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FSMA ,
Investigations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Willful Misconduct
Key Points - Last week, the SEC announced settlements with 16 broker-dealers, dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, and affiliated investment advisers in connection with their failures to maintain and...more
Key Points - In SEC v. Terraform, the court has granted summary judgment for the SEC on its claim that the defendants offered and sold unregistered securities in the form of “crypto assets.” This comes amidst the SEC...more
1/15/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Howey ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Stablecoins ,
Summary Judgment
While it took a few decades to surface, the fact pattern set forth in the movie “Trading Places” has finally come to pass. However, instead of the alleged wrongdoers bribing a U.S. government official for a sneak peek at...more
Key Points -
Last week, the SEC announced settlements with 10 broker-dealers and affiliated investment advisers in connection with their failures to maintain and preserve electronic “off-channel” communications....more
Key Point -
Just over two weeks after the SEC announced the settlement of its first NFT enforcement action against Impact Theory, on September 13, 2023, the SEC announced its second NFT enforcement action against SC2, the...more
Key Points -
On August 28, 2023, the SEC charged Impact Theory, LLC, a media company with an unregistered securities offering through its sale of NFTs. This marks the first time that the SEC has brought an enforcement action...more
8/30/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement ,
Ethereum ,
Investment Contract ,
Investors ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Nonprofits ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Settlement ,
Unregistered Securities
Key Points -
SEC Enforcement and PCAOB Enforcement both are pursuing more significant sanctions against auditors, particularly with respect to civil money penalties.
Expect 2023 enforcement against auditors to focus...more
Key Points -
On March 1, 2023, the SEC and DOJ filed insider trading charges against a public company executive alleging he traded pursuant to 10b5-1 trading plans he adopted while he was in possession of material...more
Key Points -
On February 3, 2023, Activision Blizzard settled charges with the SEC, agreeing to pay $35 million to resolve novel claims that the company failed to maintain adequate disclosure controls to track workplace...more
Key Points -
The recent indictment and multiple regulatory enforcement actions brought against a crypto trader alleged to have committed market manipulation highlight the ongoing fractured oversight of the crypto markets...more
2/3/2023
/ CFTC ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Howey ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swaps ,
Wire Fraud