crypto-assets

The SEC Can Learn a Thing or Two from Europe About Regulating Digital Assets    

By Alexandros Kazimirov August 23, 2024 by renholding

In its approach to digital assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been criticized for regulating by enforcement. In reality, the SEC has taken a twofold approach. In addition to bringing lawsuits against crypto exchanges, the commission has proposed amending …

How to Regulate FinTech, Crypto Assets, DeFi, and Other Financial Innovations

By Steven L. Schwarcz April 10, 2024 by renholding

In a new article, I attempt to build a systematic framework for regulating FinTech-driven innovations. In doing so, I clarify and simplify the confusing terminology that makes FinTech appear more complicated than it is.

“FinTech” refers to the use of …

Are Securities Class Actions Appropriate to Address Secondary-Trading Crypto Fraud?

By Menesh S. Patel April 2, 2024 by renholding

Traders in the United States now routinely trade hundreds of crypto assets in secondary crypto markets, and the pool of tradable assets is growing. Through these transactions, traders have seen financial gains and losses, which at times have been substantial. …

The Current Securities Landscape of Cryptocurrencies and NFTs

By Christa J. Laser December 1, 2023 by renholding

The value of assets on the blockchain has soared to billions of dollars, stored everywhere from Bitcoin to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs to play-to-earn gaming. Some of those assets, though, have crashed and burned in the wake of market …

Columbia Law School to Hold 2023 Conference on M&A and Corporate Governance

By Reynolds Holding November 27, 2023 by renholding

On December 8, 2023, Columbia Law School will hold its 2023 Conference on Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Governance. The event is co-sponsored by the school’s Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, the Columbia Law School …

Skadden Discusses New EU and UK Regimes for Regulating Cryptoassets

By Simon Toms, Azad Ali, Eve-Christie Vermynck and David Y. Wang June 30, 2023 by renholding

The European Union and U.K. are establishing comprehensive regimes for the regulation of cryptoassets. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 9, 2023, and will come into force on …

Davis Polk Discusses SEC’s Proposed Safeguarding Rule for Registered Advisers

By Gregory S. Rowland, Leor Landa, Michael S. Hong, Zachary J. Zweihorn and Sarah E. Kim April 20, 2023 by renholding

On February 15, 2023, the SEC proposed a sweeping new rule (Proposed Rule) which would replace current Rule 206(4)-2 (Custody Rule) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act or Act). The Custody Rule was originally adopted in 1962 …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks Before the Investor Advisory Committee

By Gary Gensler March 3, 2023 by renholding

Good morning. I am pleased to join the Investor Advisory Committee. As is customary, I’d like to note that my views are my own and I am not speaking on behalf of the Commission or SEC staff.

I want to

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SEC Chair Gensler on Proposed Rules About Investment Adviser Custody

By Gary Gensler February 17, 2023 by renholding

Today [February 15], the Commission is considering a proposal to expand and enhance the role of qualified custodians when registered investment advisers custody assets on behalf of their investors. I support this proposal because, in using important authorities Congress granted …

Fed, FDIC, OCC Jointly Warn Banks About Crypto-Asset Risks

By Prudential Bank Regulators January 6, 2023 by renholding

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the agencies) are issuing the following statement on crypto-asset1 risks to banking …

Cooley Discusses CFPB Bulletin Analyzing Rise in Crypto-Asset Complaints

By Michelle Rogers and Katie Brockway Katz December 8, 2022 by renholding

On November 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin analyzing consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB over the past four years related to crypto-assets and platforms. According to the CFPB, fraud, scams and transaction issues accounted for …

The FTX Collapse: Why Did Due Diligence, Regulation, and Governance Evaporate?

By Georges Ugeux November 30, 2022 by renholding

FTX[1] is a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2019 that, at its peak in 2021, had over 1 million users, making it the world’s third largest crypto exchange by volume. Since November 11, 2022, though, FTX has been in …

Fraud on the Crypto Market

By Menesh Patel November 28, 2022 by renholding

Investors now routinely turn to crypto asset trading for portfolio appreciation and diversification, but significant investor protection concerns loom. Between 2017 and 2019, thousands of crypto assets were offered to the public and others through initial coin offerings. Many of …

Davis Polk Discusses FSOC Report on Financial Stability Risks of Digital Assets

By Randall D. Guynn, Luigi L. De Ghenghi, Joseph A. Hall, Gabriel D. Rosenberg and Margaret E. Tahyar October 31, 2022 by renholding

The report recently issued by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) is quite different from the other reports published so far by the U.S. financial regulators in response to Executive Order 14067 on digital assets (FSOC Report).1 Helpfully, this …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses How Bankruptcy Courts Will Measure Customer Crypto Claims

By Sidney P. Levinson, Jeffrey L. Robins, Elie J. Worenklein and Michael C. Godbe October 24, 2022 by renholding

In the wake of the industry’s recent significant bankruptcy filings, crypto watchers are focusing for the first time on which crypto-entities are eligible for chapter 11 relief[1] under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”)[2] and, …

How to Move from Local to Global Regulation of Crypto-Assets

By Roee Sarel, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky and Israel Klein August 5, 2022 by renholding

On July 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury (USDT) published a fact-sheet on the regulation of digital assets(a.k.a. crypto-assets) in which it emphasized the need for global cooperation. However, this fact-sheet is only a drop in an ocean …

Arnold & Porter Discusses Today’s SEC Examination Priorities, Tomorrow’s SEC Enforcement Actions

By Christian D. H. Schultz, Jane Norberg, Daniel M. Hawke, Ellen Kaye Fleishhacker and David F. Freeman, Jr. April 14, 2022 by renholding

Rounding out a series of quarter-end announcements from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Division of Examinations (Exams) announced its 2022 examination priorities on March 30, 2022. These priorities reflect SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s stated view that the …

A Tokenized Future: Regulatory Lessons from Crowdfunding and Standard Form Contracts

By Darian Ibrahim April 13, 2022 by renholding

Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets (“crypto”) are surging in popularity.  If cryptos are securities (“investment contracts” under the Howey test), they must be sold in accordance with the federal securities laws.  This likely requires registration with the Securities and Exchange …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses the Growing Enforcement Focus on Cryptoassets

By Richard K. Kim, Sarah K. Eddy, Rosemary Spaziani, David M. Adlerstein and Amanda M. Lee February 23, 2022 by renholding

Underscoring that misconduct surrounding cryptoassets has become a top U.S. enforcement priority, the Department of Justice announced on February 17 the appointment of Eun Young Choi as head of a dedicated National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.  The NCET’s mandate is to …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses Federal Banking Agencies’ Crypto Initiative

By Derek Bush, Lauren E. Semrad, Colin D. Lloyd, Hugh C. Conroy, Jr. and Julia Knight December 1, 2021 by renholding

On November 23, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint statement on an inter-agency initiative to address bank and bank …