When assessing whether a digital asset is a security, the key question to ask is whether a third party is driving the expectation of a return, says a senior Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official....more
On May 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (Reform Act). Although largely focused on regulatory exemptions for smaller financial institutions, the...more
This update serves to cover virtual currency regulatory developments over the past two months in the U.S., U.K. and EU. This follows our previous virtual currency regulatory updates as part of Shearman & Sterling’s FinTech...more
On February 21, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission released new interpretive guidance on public company disclosures regarding cybersecurity risks and incidents....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ long-awaited examination priorities for 2018 will focus on five principal areas: retail investors; infrastructure risks; FINRA and...more
In their testimony before the U. S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (the “Committee”), Chairman Jay Clayton of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo of the...more
SEC/CFTC Statements -
In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on January 24, 2018, Jay Clayton, the Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and J. Christopher Giancarlo, the Chair of the US...more
On November 1, 2017, the staff (the “Staff”) of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14I (SLB 14I) on shareholder proposals, which sets out a...more
On October 11, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to Regulation S-K designed to simplify and streamline disclosures made by public companies and reduce compliance costs while continuing to...more
On October 6, 2017, the US Department of the Treasury released a 220-page report on reforming the US regulatory system for the capital markets (Capital Markets Report). The Capital Markets Report includes 91 recommendations...more
On August 17, 2017, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued guidance further extending an important accommodation provided to companies contemplating going public. Under the updated guidance, all issuers, including...more
On June 29, 2017, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that, beginning on July 10, 2017, it will permit confidential submissions of draft registration statements for all initial public offerings (IPOs),...more