On April 18, 2025, the State of Oregon brought a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”) for the alleged sale of unregistered securities. In a press release, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield...more
5/15/2025
/ Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investigations ,
Oregon ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
State Attorneys General
Just over one month into the second Trump Administration, the crypto industry appears poised to notch yet another victory in its longstanding tug-of-war with regulators — perhaps its most significant to date. On February 21,...more
2/28/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
Over the last several years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has been laser-focused on the use of so-called “off-channel communications” in the financial services industry. On the theory that employees’ use of...more
4/22/2024
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employees ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) has taken action against Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini”) (collectively, “Defendants”) in a recently-filed complaint...more
On September 16, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a report on the Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets pursuant to President...more
New York’s chief law enforcement agency recently squandered an opportunity to bring much needed guidance to the digital assets space. On October 18, 2021, the Office of New York Attorney General, Letitia James (“NYAG”),...more
11/30/2021
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
New York ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
State and Local Government ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
New York’s chief law enforcement agency recently squandered an opportunity to bring much needed guidance to the digital assets space. On October 18, the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James (“NYAG”) issued a...more
11/11/2021
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Martin Act ,
New York ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Last week, Coinbase Global Inc. (“Coinbase”) headed off confrontation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by announcing it was shelving a much ballyhooed digital asset lending product, Lend. The announcement...more
In Securities & Exchange Comm’n v. Fowler, No. 20-1081, 2021 WL 3083655 (2d Cir. July 22, 2021), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court judgment awarding the Securities and Exchange...more
For the first time outside of the originating case itself, a federal appeals court was called upon to apply the principles governing disgorgement in SEC enforcement actions established by the United States Supreme Court’s...more
8/21/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
A recent enforcement action offers a glimpse of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) expectations for firms conducting anti-money laundering (“AML”) due diligence and transaction monitoring. On July 27,...more
To gain insight into where the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have been focusing their oversight and what their priorities will be in 2020, look no further than...more
10/31/2019
/ Anti-Corruption ,
CFTC ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Investigations ,
Market Abuse ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan
In Securities & Exchange Comm. v. Gentile, No. 18-1242, 2019 WL 4686251 (3d Cir. Sept. 26, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit took up the question of whether Securities and Exchange Commission...more
10/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Future Harm ,
Injunctions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Penalties ,
Penny Stocks ,
Pump and Dump ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Authority
The Security and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) recent $1 million settlement with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“MSSB”) marked a turning point in the agency’s focus on cybersecurity issues, an area that the agency has...more
7/2/2016
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Customer Funds Protection ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Misappropriation ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulation S-P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement