Compliance Tip of the Day: COSO Objective 5 – Monitoring Activities
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Raising Capital 101: A Securities Podcast - What Laws Affect Securities Offerings?
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Investment Management and Private Funds Roundtable – June 2020
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Fiduciary investment advice: The patchwork emerges
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Complying with new SEC rules for broker-dealers
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Regulatory and Enforcement Update
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Establishing An Investment Platform Post-Regulation BI
Investment Management Update - Focus on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments for busy in-house lawyers and compliance professionals. This month, we examine the following matters: • An SEC complaint alleging a Georgia...more
According to recent reports, two U.S. multinational financial technology companies have integrated Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a decentralized naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain, into their payment platforms....more
Over the years, this blog has not shied away from calling out FINRA or the SEC for regulating via enforcement actions rather than providing formal guidance. Well, the SEC did it again last Thursday with a complaint filed...more
“Decentralization” is a concept that has consistently vexed the entire blockchain-enabled ecosystem in the U.S., including its counsel and regulators, wherein a lack of clarity on the exact definition of decentralization has...more
The dust has settled on the 2020 election, and the Biden administration has begun pressing forward with its policy objectives. Critical to achieving such objectives is the Democrats’ control of both the House of...more
In This Issue. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a new guide to help financial technology companies and others partner with banks; the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it...more
It was a year filled with tantalizing tidbits and many loose ends. 2019 marked the 10th year since blockchain technology was released into the wild by its still unknown inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, who mined the first bitcoin...more
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission publicized a cascade of settlements of enforcement actions alleging breaches of laws and rules related to supervision, spoofing, reporting, and misappropriation of...more
Smart Contracts Deployed by Icelandic Retailer, Blockchain for Sneakers and DHS - A press release issued this week announced the successful completion of an automated invoice payment using the Ethereum blockchain. ...more
Blockchain Capital Markets Platforms Achieve and File for Regulatory Approvals - The Intercontinental Exchange recently received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services for its emerging bitcoin...more
Two food giants agreed to resolve charges brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that they manipulated or attempted to manipulate prices of the Chicago Board of Trade’s December 2011 wheat futures contract and...more
Last week a Canada-based social media company answered charges filed against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2019 that alleged its 2017 initial sale of digital tokens constituted an unlawful securities...more
Last week, a Canada-based social media company was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for purportedly conducting an unregistered securities offering to United States persons in connection with an initial coin...more
U.S. Developments - New York Attorney General Announces Filing in Connection with Tether, Bitfinex Investigation - On April 25, 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office obtained a court...more
REGULATORY UPDATES - Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Releases Its 2019 Priorities - On January 22, 2019, FINRA released its Annual Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter, which highlighted the...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a request for input regarding the virtual currency ether. It wants to understand better how bitcoin and ether are different, and any unique qualities of ether (ETH), as it...more
U.S. and International Governments Address Smart Ports, Smart Cities, and Cryptocurrencies - According to reports, in an Oct. 3 meeting, representatives of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claimed that the agency is...more
In a flurry of enforcement activity in the digital asset space, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers,...more
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated previously, it is continuing to scrutinize and commence enforcement actions against companies, advisors and investors involved in the offering of cryptocurrencies...more
Technology evolves and events unfold at a dizzying pace in the blockchain world, but even by those standards this past week was tough to keep up with. Every day seemed to bring a new first for the industry...more
U.S. Customs Pilots Blockchain for Supply Chain as Private Sector Pilots Continue - On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency announced that it would begin testing a blockchain solution to verify...more
Capital Markets Firsts for Blockchain Include Bonds, Security Tokens, Exchange Traded Notes - According to an Aug. 10, 2018, press release, the World Bank and an Australian multinational bank are partnering to issue what is...more
Last week, I posted a blog about the SEC’s increased focus on cryptocurrency and ICOs in the coming year. It looks like that scrutiny will not be limited to the SEC. In its 2018 Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities...more
AT&T has dropped plans to sell the Mate 10—the newest smartphone from China’s Huawei Technologies—just before the partnership was to be announced. AT&T gave no reasons for its abrupt reversal, but lawmakers have recently...more