On 18 July 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its 2022 reports on the use by Member State competent authorities (NCAs) of sanctions under the UCITS Directive and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The reports are drafted pursuant to Article 99e(1) of the UCITS Directive and Article 48(3) of the … Continue Reading
On 6 July 2023, the Bank of England (BoE) published its latest annual report on the Prescribed Persons (Reports on Disclosures of Information) Regulations 2017. The BoE, of which the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) forms a part, are both Prescribed Persons, as defined by Parliament under the Public Interest Disclosures (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014. The … Continue Reading
In a special edition of our FinTech Pulse podcast series, US partners Stephen Aschettino, Andrew Lom and Kevin Harnisch discuss the recent uptick in regulatory enforcement activity from federal regulators against crypto exchanges, with the SEC issuing a Wells Notice to Coinbase and suing Beaxy, and the CFTC suing Binance and seeking permanent injunctions to … Continue Reading
A seemingly straightforward enforcement action by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has attracted the attention of US regulators, large digital asset industry players and the crypto industry in general for its potential wide-reaching implications for DAO governance. The CFTC pushed back on various amicus briefs filed by top industry participants in the digital asset … Continue Reading
On September 15, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL), an airline headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, agreed to pay more than US$150m to resolve parallel investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the US and Brazil, stemming from … Continue Reading
Following Deputy AG Lisa Monaco’s remarks at the White Collar Conference last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a Corporate Crime Advisory Group to revise DOJ’s Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies. On September 15, 2022, Monaco announced the group’s first major round of revisions. The revisions reiterate a focus on individual accountability, voluntary disclosure, and … Continue Reading
On 22 September 2022, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) published data showing the number of complaints they received about individual businesses between 1 January and 30 June 2022. 212 businesses feature in the complaints data for the first half of 2022 compared to 216 in the previous six-month period. The average uphold rate across all … Continue Reading
On 7 September 2022, the FCA published a speech by Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director, Markets, at the Financial Crime Summit entitled ‘Fighting financial crime – the force multiplier effect’. In her speech, Ms Pritchard outlines the FCA’s strategic response to financial crime in the four following areas. Robust defences and actions The FCA sets robust … Continue Reading
In a decision with significant implications for securities litigation and enforcement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently rebuffed an attempt by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to broaden the scope of “scheme liability” under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 17(a) of the … Continue Reading
Vladimir_Consulting_Limited_v_The_Financial_Conduct_Authority.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) Introduction The business of Vladimir Consulting Limited (VCL) involved trading in cryptocurrency such as bitcoin on peer-to-peer exchanges which provide a market place for sellers and buyers of cryptocurrency. The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs) were amended with effect from 10 January 2020 … Continue Reading
On 8 July 2022, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the following reports: Sanctions and measures imposed under MiFID II in 2021. The report provides an overview of the applicable legal framework and the sanctions and measures imposed by national competent authorities (NCAs) under the MiFID II framework in 2021. The data reported … Continue Reading
Investors are increasingly seeking sustainable financial products and ESG investing, traditional investing combined with sustainable or otherwise philanthropic aims, has seen huge growth in recent years. Regulated firms are also seeking to improve their own ESG performance more generally to build stronger relationships with their stakeholders, including those who use their services. Whilst the growing … Continue Reading
In a watershed opinion, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s system of in-house administrative tribunals is unconstitutional. Read our full update here.… Continue Reading
In October 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced revised US Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance on corporate monitorships, signaling a sharp change in the declining trend of the tool over the past few years. (NRF has previously examined the DOJ’s policy changes.) Recently, the DOJ and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced … Continue Reading
On 24 February 2022, the Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) issued a press release urging businesses with outstanding historical banking disputes to see if they can apply for support using an online tool as the deadline for historical complaint applications is just one year away, closing on 14 February 2023. Professional services businesses are also … Continue Reading
High-level officials at the Justice Department are warning that the DOJ is “surging” resources in a new effort to combat corporate crime.… Continue Reading
The Tribunal has held that third party rights do not arise in the context of Supervisory Notices, nor do the relevant provisions allow third parties to refer Supervisory Notices to the Tribunal, even where they are identified. Although Parliament has specifically provided for this right in the context of Warning and Decision Notices, it has … Continue Reading
A former futures trader recently agreed to a settlement order from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) imposing a permanent trading ban for spoofing and manipulation, and pled guilty to criminal charges of manipulation and wire fraud, for trading done in the precious metals market. David Liew was a trader on a major financial … Continue Reading
On May 22, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) amended Part 165 of its regulations, which govern whistleblower incentives and protections. In addition to strengthening existing anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers, the amendments also prohibit employers from restricting employees from reporting potential violations of the Commodity Exchange Act directly to the CFTC. This prohibition extends … Continue Reading
Market participants must be mindful of the robust enforcement environment at the CFTC and U.S. futures exchanges. In 2015, the CFTC brought numerous enforcement actions and continued to impose aggressive civil monetary penalties on market participants, including energy and agricultural companies. Significantly, the CFTC also started to pivot from implementing to enforcing its regulations promulgated … Continue Reading
The SEC provided an overview of significant actions that were brought by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in 2015. The SEC filed 807 enforcement actions in the 2015 fiscal year and obtained orders totaling approximately $4.2 billion in disgorgement and penalties, slightly higher than the 755 enforcement actions and orders totaling $4.16 billion in disgorgement … Continue Reading
On September 24, 2015 the CFTC issued an Order settling an enforcement action against TeraExchange, a provisionally registered swap execution facility (SEF). According to the Order, TeraExchange failed to enforce its rules prohibiting wash trading and pre-arranged trading. In fact, the Order found, TeraExchange affirmatively arranged for two market participants to enter into the SEF’s … Continue Reading
On September 22, 2015, the CFTC issued a “supplemental” proposed rulemaking (the “2015 Proposal”) to revise its long-pending proposal on aggregation for position limit purposes published in November 2013 (the “2013 Proposal”). The 2015 Proposal, if finalized, would provide companies with over 50% ownership or equity interest in affiliated entities with an easier mechanism to … Continue Reading
FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (“NAC”) has revised its Sanction Guidelines that outline particular securities industry rule violations and the range of disciplinary sanctions that may result from such rule violations. The revised Sanction Guidelines involve violations of misrepresentation and suitability rules and take effect immediately. These revisions are part of the NAC’s periodic review of … Continue Reading
