On January 4, 2019, two Colorado senators introduced the “Colorado Digital Token Act,” a bill seeking to exempt digital tokens and cryptocurrencies from certain Colorado state securities laws. In filing the Colorado Digital Token Act, the senators proposed that digital tokens with a “primarily consumptive purpose” that are not marketed to be used for “speculative … Continue Reading
As commercial activity increasingly intertwines with applications of blockchain technology with participants around the world, courts have had to grapple with the personal jurisdiction implications of such arrangements. Will participants in these blockchain applications based outside the United States find themselves subject to U.S. jurisdiction when disputes arise, based on how they have conducted their … Continue Reading
The two-year transitional period under the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Cybersecurity Regulation, 23 NYCRR 500 (the “Regulation”), will expire on March 1, 2019, with the final remaining requirement becoming effective. Entities covered by the Regulation that utilize third party service providers, which include not only banks and insurers, but also other … Continue Reading
Legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives directed at regulating virtual currency. In a post from the Norton Rose Fulbright Project Finance blog available, Deanne Barrow analyzes the bills. Readers interested in learning more about cryptocurrency can sign up for updates on our FinTech law and regulation page.… Continue Reading
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) published a Request for input on December 17, 2018, seeking public comment and feedback on a set of twenty-five (25) questions to better inform the CFTC’s understanding of the technology, mechanics, and markets for virtual currencies beyond Bitcoin. … Continue Reading
On December 3, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a joint statement (“Joint Statement”) urging banks to consider, evaluate and potentially implement … Continue Reading
On November 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a statement on the application of federal securities laws to the issuance and trading of, and investment in, digital asset securities. While the statement encourages technological innovations that benefit investors and capital markets, it emphasizes that market participants must still adhere to federal securities … Continue Reading
On November 8, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it settled charges against Zachary Coburn, founder of EtherDelta, a digital token trading platform, for operating an unregistered national securities exchange. This is the SEC’s first enforcement action based on findings that a digital token trading platform operated as an unregistered national securities … Continue Reading
Yet another U.S. regulator has weighed in on the use of the blockchain. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a nonprofit corporation established by the U.S. Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate and independent audit reports. The PCAOB … Continue Reading
On October 22, 2018, a U.S. federal trial court in Manhattan granted web services conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s request for a preliminary injunction against several defendants that were offering cryptocurrency for sale, under the name “AlibabaCoin.” (Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. v. Alibabacoin Foundation, No. 18-CV-2897 (JPO) (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 22, 2018) Although neither Alibaba nor … Continue Reading
On October 25, 2018, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) seeking to stop the OCC from issuing any special-purpose national bank charters to financial technology companies that do not receive deposits … Continue Reading
On October 16, 2018, Commissioner Brian Quintenz of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) shared his views on smart contract regulation by the CFTC. In his speech at the 38th Annual GITEX Technology Week Conference, in discussing a hypothetical where code in a smart contract was specifically designed to enable a type of activity regulated … Continue Reading
An interesting issue arose recently when a defendant was arrested on federal charges of stealing $342,000 worth of digital assets, and tried to post bond using cryptocurrency. Sue Ross has written a post for our Brand Protection Blog that includes a discussion of the case and whether the FBI permitted the defendant to post bail … Continue Reading
On September 27, 2018, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) filed charges against Marshall Islands-based firm 1pool Ltd. (“1pool”) and its Austria-based CEO and owner, Patrick Brunner, for (i) failing to register as a security-based swaps dealer with the SEC, (ii) failing to register as a futures … Continue Reading
On September 18, 2018, the New York State Attorney General issued a 32- page report on its findings on the state of cryptocurrency platforms with respect to consumer protections. The Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Report summarizes the results of the New York Attorney General’s April 2018 survey sent to 13 cryptocurrency platforms, including some located … Continue Reading
For the first time, a US federal court has ruled that in appropriate circumstances cryptocurrencies can be subject to the provisions of US securities laws. In U.S. v. Zaslavskiy, No. 1:17-cr-00647, slip op., 2018 WL 4346339 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2018), Judge Raymond Dearie of the Eastern District of New York upheld a criminal indictment for … Continue Reading
The tenth edition of our Global Asset Management Quarterly is now available. You can also register to automatically receive each issue as it is released. This publication highlights key developments that will be of interest to, and affect, our asset management clients, including market trends and developments in tax and buy-side regulation globally. Articles in … Continue Reading
On September 14, 2018, New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Superintendent Maria T. Vullo filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) in connection with the OCC’s recent decision to begin accepting applications from nondepository financial technology companies (“fintechs”) for special purpose national bank charters (the OCC’s “Fintech … Continue Reading
On August 8, 2018, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a reminder to DFS-regulated financial services businesses that starting September 4, 2018, they were required to be in compliance with the next set of requirements in the DFS cybersecurity regulations located at Part 500 of the New York State … Continue Reading
On July 31, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced its decision to begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank charters from financial technology companies (“fintechs”) that are engaged in the business of banking but do not take deposits. The OCC’s decision comes nearly two years after the agency initially … Continue Reading
In his June 6, 2018, interview with CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Chairman Jay Clayton further clarified the regulatory landscape around cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and initial coin offerings, nothing that the SEC would not support changing the traditional definition of a security to take into account this new technology: “Where I give you my … Continue Reading
On April 17, 2018, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman took the first steps in launching the new Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative through a fact-finding questionnaire sent to thirteen of the major cryptocurrency trading platforms. The Initiative’s focus is protecting consumers and increasing transparency for both investors and enforcement agencies. “Yet too often, consumers … Continue Reading
A growing number of companies are turning to initial coin offerings—called ICOs—as an innovative way to raise capital. But do people really know what are they and how they work? Please check out this article by Andrew Lom, Rita Astoor and Rachael Browndorf on ICOs that includes a description of what ICOs are, how the … Continue Reading
