SEC and CFTC Staff Issue Joint Statement on Spot Crypto Trading

By Securities and Exchange Commission September 3, 2025 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets and the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk (collectively, the “Divisions”)[1] are announcing a cross-agency initiative in furtherance of the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto …

SEC Names Judge Margaret Ryan as Director of the Division of Enforcement

By Securities and Exchange Commission August 22, 2025 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [August 21] announced that Judge Margaret “Meg” Ryan has been named Director of the Division of Enforcement, effective Sept. 2, 2025. Acting Director of Enforcement Sam Waldon will return to his previous role as …

SEC Staff Issues Statement on Certain Liquid Staking Activities

By Securities and Exchange Commission August 6, 2025 by Securities and Exchange Commission

As part of an effort to provide greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets,[1] the Division of Corporation Finance is providing its views[2] on a specific type of Protocol Staking. The Division …

SEC Offers Views on Stablecoins

By Securities and Exchange Commission April 7, 2025 by Securities and Exchange Commission

As part of an effort to provide greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets,[1] the Division of Corporation Finance is providing its views[2] on certain types of crypto assets commonly referred to …

SEC Confirms Bitcoin and Proof-of-Work Mining Not Considered Securities

By Securities and Exchange Commission March 21, 2025 by Securities and Exchange Commission

As part of an effort to provide greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets,[1] the Division of Corporation Finance is providing its views[2] on certain activities on proof-of-work networks known as “mining.”

…

SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2024

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 25, 2024 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on November 22 that it filed 583 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2024 while obtaining orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest amount in SEC history.

The 583 enforcement actions represent

…

SEC Hits Dozens of Firms With $390 Million Penalty for Recordkeeping Failures

By Securities and Exchange Commission August 16, 2024 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission on August 14 announced charges against 26 broker-dealers, investment advisers, and dually-registered broker-dealers and investment advisers for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their personnel to maintain and preserve electronic communications.

The firms

…

SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2023

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 15, 2023 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed 784 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2023, a 3 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, including 501 original, or “stand-alone,” enforcement actions, an 8 percent increase over the prior fiscal …

SEC Announces Enforcement Results for FY 2022

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 16, 2022 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [November 15] announced that it filed 760 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2022, a 9 percent increase over the prior year. These included 462 new, or “stand alone,” enforcement actions, a 6.5 percent …

SEC Says “Control Deficiency” Gave Enforcement Staff Access to Privileged Documents

By Securities and Exchange Commission April 7, 2022 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Commission has identified a control deficiency related to the separation of its enforcement and adjudicatory functions within its system for administrative adjudications. When this deficiency was identified, the Chair immediately notified the other Commissioners and directed the staff to

…

SEC Staff Discusses Key Considerations on LIBOR Transition

By Securities and Exchange Commission December 8, 2021 by Securities and Exchange Commission

[1]This statement is being issued to remind investment professionals of their obligations when recommending LIBOR-linked securities and to remind companies and issuers of asset-backed securities of their disclosure obligations related to the LIBOR transition.[2] This statement follows previous

…

SEC Announces Enforcement Results for FY 2021

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 19, 2021 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [November 18] announced that it filed 434 new enforcement actions in fiscal year 2021, representing a 7 percent increase over the prior year. Seventy percent of these new or “stand-alone” actions involved at least

…

SEC Clarifies Investment Advisers’ Proxy Voting Responsibilities

By Securities and Exchange Commission August 22, 2019 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today provided guidance [rules available here] to assist investment advisers in fulfilling their proxy voting responsibilities. The guidance discusses, among other matters, the ability of investment advisers to establish a variety of different voting arrangements

…

SEC Staff Offers Views on the Transition from LIBOR

By Securities and Exchange Commission July 16, 2019 by Securities and Exchange Commission

Division of Corporation Finance, Division of Investment Management, Division of Trading and Markets, and Office of the Chief Accountant[1]

LIBOR[2] is an indicative measure of the average interest rate at which major global banks could borrow from one

…

SEC Proposes Change to Margin Rules on Security Futures

By Securities and Exchange Commission July 4, 2019 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that it has proposed to align the minimum margin required on security futures with other similar financial products. The proposal—which, if the CFTC votes in favor of, would be a joint

…

SEC Adopts New Rules on Relationship Between Retail Investors and Financial Professionals

By Securities and Exchange Commission June 6, 2019 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [June 5, 2019] voted to adopt a package of rulemakings and interpretations designed to enhance the quality and transparency of retail investors’ relationships with investment advisers and broker-dealers, bringing the legal requirements and mandated …

SEC Offers Framework for “Investment Contract” Analysis of Digital Assets

By Securities and Exchange Commission April 8, 2019 by Securities and Exchange Commission

If you are considering[1] an Initial Coin Offering, sometimes referred to as an “ICO,” or otherwise engaging in the offer, sale, or distribution of a digital asset,[2] you need to consider whether the U.S. federal securities laws apply.

…

SEC Divisions Set Forth Views on Issuing and Trading Digital Asset Securities

By Securities and Exchange Commission November 21, 2018 by Securities and Exchange Commission

In recent years, we have seen significant advances in technologies – including blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies – that impact our securities markets. This statement[1] highlights several recent Commission enforcement actions involving the intersection of long-standing applications of …

SEC Proposes Changes to Whistleblower Rule

By Securities and Exchange Commission June 29, 2018 by Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted on June 28, 2018, to propose amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program. The whistleblower program was established in 2010 to incentivize individuals to report high-quality tips to the Commission and help the

…

SEC Adopts New Requirements on Using XBRL Reporting Language for Financial Statements