With the Presidential and Congressional transitions taking place this month, we expect increased investment and transactional activity in capital markets. This will likely include trading platforms, exchanges, clearinghouses,...more
Quick Take: The SEC recently settled charges against a registered broker-dealer for manipulating the U.S. Treasury cash securities market through a trading method known as spoofing and for failing to reasonably supervise the...more
Crypto and Web3 Firms Announce Fintech Integrations - A major U.S. fintech firm recently announced a product integration with MoonPay, a Web3 infrastructure company, “that allows MoonPay users in the U.S. to seamlessly buy...more
The March decision in Williams v. Binance from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit marks the latest chapter in the judiciary's struggle to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Morrison v. National...more
Introduction - On 6 February 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to adopt two new rules that significantly expand the definitions of a “dealer” and “government securities dealer” in Sections...more
After more than three years of regulatory investigation and litigation, Robinhood Financial LLC (“Robinhood”) recently agreed to overhaul its digital engagement practices and pay a $7.5 million fine to settle charges with the...more
More than 50% increase in SEC cryptocurrency-related enforcement actions in 2023 over 2022. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to view cryptocurrency-related enforcement as a top priority, bringing 46...more
Editor's Note - The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency,...more
We all remember the legend of Robin Hood, who with his band of Merrie Men (plus Maid Marian of course) materialized from the depths of medieval Sherwood Forest to torment the corrupt Prince John and the cruel Sheriff of...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC or the Commission) voted on Friday, April 14, 2023, to reopen the comment period for previously proposed amendments to Rule 3b-16 under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the...more
On March 9, 2023, the New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYAG) filed a lawsuit charging crypto trading platform KuCoin for “failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing...more
On Wednesday, December 14, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) affirmatively voted to advance some major changes to U.S. stock-market rules, perhaps the biggest changes to such rules in nearly 20 years....more
FINRA has provided an update on its targeted exam sweep related to option account opening, supervision, and disclosure (the Update). While the sweep is ongoing, FINRA’s recent release serves as a helpful reminder for...more
UK & European Financial Services M&A: Sector trends H2 2021 | H1 2022 — Brokers/Corporate Finance - Marginal improvement in investor sentiment for high-quality brokers, particularly across online brokerage, crypto trading...more
Over the last five years, decentralized finance (DeFi), especially cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are a space that continues to grow at an exponential rate, not only for retail investors but also for private...more
In July 2017, the SEC issued its landmark DAO Report, which clarified, among other things, its view that digital tokens with characteristics akin to those of an "investment contract" as established in SEC v. W.J. Howey Co....more
There’s no question that FinTech firms are on the rise, and attempting to revolutionize the financial services space for the better. One such FinTech firm is none other than the notorious Robinhood. A technology company at...more
The Office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James (“NYAG”) has filed a lawsuit to shut down technology company Coinseed. The state has accused the firm of selling unregistered securities in the form of digital...more
The SEC Division of Enforcement’s 2019 Annual Report, released earlier this month, shows a continuing focus on activities involving blockchain and cryptocurrency, and its website shows an increase in cases since last fiscal...more
SEC Adopts ETF Rule - On September 25, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unanimously adopted Rule 6c-11 under the 1940 Act to modernize the regulation of exchange-traded funds by establishing a clear and...more
On July 8, 2019, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Trading and Markets and the staff of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a joint statement outlining...more
Last week, J. Christopher Giancarlo promised a “workable” revised position limits proposed rule before he leaves as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sometime this summer. Separately, the Securities and...more
In a sign of continued enforcement activity involving cryptocurrency products and services, the SEC fined Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta, for operating an unregistered national securities exchange....more
Hester Peirce Remarks at Cato Institute Conference - Hester Peirce made remarks at the Cato Institute’s Fintech Unbound conference on September 12, 2018. Commissioner Peirce commented that securities regulators are too risk...more
On July 18, 2018, the SEC ramped up its oversight of alternative trading systems (“ATSs”) by adopting a series of rule amendments imposing public disclosure requirements on ATSs that trade NMS (“National Market System”)...more