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
Rapidly growing interest in nonfungible tokens (NFTs) has been fueled by recent headlines of multimillion-dollar transactions, such as the $69 million sale of an NFT by digital artist Beeple — the third-highest price ever...more
On January 7, 2021, the original 15-day comment period ended for a proposed rule announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that would impose new reporting, recordkeeping...more
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve, together with FinCEN, “the Agencies”)...more
11/11/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
FATF ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fund Transfers ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
National Security ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Public Comment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Travel Rule ,
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
On August 31, 2020, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued a memorandum to all executive departments and agencies on reforming regulatory enforcement...more
10/14/2020
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Best Practices ,
Burden of Proof ,
CFTC ,
Civil Liability ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
OMB ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Review
Addressing the Evolving Risks -
Warren Buffett said that “only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Buffett was not talking about compliance programs in a time of crisis, but his wisdom applies...more
5/2/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Fraud ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Market Manipulation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In 2018, the number of blockchain-enabled projects increased sharply as established companies sought to apply distributed ledger technology to their existing business models and startups developed new and disruptive models...more
1/18/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EU ,
FinCEN ,
FinHub ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
Effective May 11, 2018, covered financial institutions are required to comply with the customer due diligence rule (the Rule) that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) finalized in May 2016. The Rule mandates the...more
5/16/2018
/ Banks ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Compliance ,
Covered Financial Institutions ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Legal Entities ,
Loans ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trusts ,
Verification Requirements
In 2017, the increased adoption of blockchain technology in various industries was partially obscured by the dramatic fluctuations in the price of bitcoins and the prevalence of so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs) to...more
2/1/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Services ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
After nearly two decades, the United States has formally ended economic sanctions on Burma (Myanmar). Citing substantial efforts undertaken to promote democracy, President Barack Obama issued an executive order, on October 7,...more
10/15/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Barack Obama ,
Burma ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Patriot Act ,
SDN List ,
US Department of State
In the wake of the Panama Papers controversy, the U.S. government has taken major steps this month to promote financial transparency. First, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) finalized its proposed rule issued...more
5/17/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ownership Requirements ,
Popular ,
Transparency ,
White Collar Crimes
On August 25, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would impose certain anti-money laundering (“AML”) requirements on...more
9/11/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Know Your Customers ,
NPRM ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
U.S. Treasury