United States

New York Attorney General issues report on cryptocurrency platforms

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

Cryptocurrencies held subject to US federal securities laws

By Kathleen Scott (US) on September 27, 2018 Posted in Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

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

Latest issue of Global Asset Management Quarterly now available

By Kathleen Scott (US) on September 20, 2018 Posted in Asset management, Fintech, General, United States

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

New York State Department of Financial Services again sues OCC over bank charter for fintechs

By Kathleen Scott (US) and Richard Potomac (US) on September 19, 2018 Posted in Banking, Fintech, General, Retail, United States

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

US federal banking agencies issue final regulations promulgating use of municipal obligations for LCR compliance

By Kathleen Scott (US) on September 11, 2018 Posted in Banking, Capital adequacy, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

Late last month, the US federal banking agencies (the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), collectively, the “banking agencies”) issued an interim final rule that implements section 403 of the recently enacted “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act” (the “Act”), to … Continue Reading

CFPB finalizes GLBA privacy rule exemption

By Kathleen Scott (US) and Rachael Browndorf (US) on August 28, 2018 Posted in Banking, General, Regulation and compliance, Retail, United States

On August 10, 2018, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”) announced that it had finalized amendments to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) regulations implementing a statutory change that provides an exemption for certain financial institutions from the GLBA requirement to deliver an annual privacy notice to their customers. As discussed in our post from … Continue Reading

CFTC proposes process on exempting non-US derivative clearing organizations

By Kathleen Scott (US) and Lillian A. Cardona (US) on August 22, 2018 Posted in Commodities & Derivatives, Dodd-Frank, Enforcement, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

On August 8, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking, which if adopted as proposed, would set out the policies and procedures for clearing organizations located outside of the United States to follow if they want to obtain an exemption from registration as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO). … Continue Reading

President Trump signs into law CFIUS reform bill

By Kathleen Scott (US) on August 16, 2018 Posted in General, Regulation and compliance, United States

On August 13, 2018, President Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 115-232), which included the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”). FIRRMA marks the most significant change in over ten years in the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). CFIUS is … Continue Reading

Compliance date for next set of DFS cybersecurity regulations is September 4, 2018

By Kathleen Scott (US) on August 10, 2018 Posted in Enforcement, Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

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

OCC announces it will begin accepting charter applications from fintechs

By Kathleen Scott (US) and Richard Potomac (US) on August 7, 2018 Posted in Banking, Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

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

SEC adopts new Form ATS-N and amendments to Regulation ATS to increase transparency and oversight of alternative trading systems

By Andrew Lom (US), Rachael Browndorf (US) and Christopher Cash (US) on July 23, 2018 Posted in Brokers and Intermediaries, Clearing and settlement, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

On July 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to adopt amendments to Regulation ATS that impose additional public disclosure requirements on, and enhance the SEC’s oversight of alternative trading systems (“ATSs”) that facilitate transactions in National Market System stocks (“NMS Stock ATSs”). Regulation ATS, adopted in 1998, established a regulatory framework intended … Continue Reading

New York State finalizes regulation requiring registration of consumer credit reporting agencies

By Kathleen Scott (US) on July 17, 2018 Posted in Banking, Enforcement, General, Regulation and compliance, Retail, United States

On June 25, 2018, New York State announced adoption of final Department of Financial Services (DFS) regulations that require consumer credit reporting agencies to register with the DFS. Our blog post on the regulations as proposed last fall can be found here. There were some clarifying changes to the requirements but the basic objectives of registration, … Continue Reading

American Express steers clear of antitrust law violation

By Kathleen Scott (US) on June 27, 2018 Posted in General, Regulation and compliance, United States

On June 25, 2018, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that credit-card company American Express did not violate federal antitrust law by requiring merchants to contractually agree to “antisteering provisions.” These antisteering provisions prohibit merchants from “steering” cardholders at the point of purchase away from using their American Express card in favor of … Continue Reading

Business not as usual: US Supreme Court holds that administrative law judges must be appointed—threatening years of prior decisions

By Kathleen Scott (US) on June 27, 2018 Posted in General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

On June 21, 2018, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to follow the appropriate constitutional processes for appointing its administrative law judges. You can find here a detailed analysis of the decision and its ramifications not only for the SEC but for administrative law judges … Continue Reading

US financial regulators unveil proposed changes to Volcker Rule

By Kathleen Scott (US) on June 25, 2018 Posted in Banking, Dodd-Frank, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

On May 30, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board was the first of the five financial services regulators responsible for the Volcker Rule to approve proposed changes agreed by the regulators. Between May 31 and June 5, 2018, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities … Continue Reading

SEC’s Jay Clayton and William Hinman reiterate Howey is here to stay

By Andrew Lom (US) and Rachael Browndorf (US) on June 22, 2018 Posted in Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

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

Dodd-Frank reform legislation becomes law; no repeal but key provisions are revised

By Kathleen Scott (US) on May 29, 2018 Posted in Asset management, Banking, Dodd-Frank, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

On May 24, 2018, the President signed Public Law 115-174, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act,” which includes some revisions to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank”), but not its wholesale repeal. The Law addresses such diverse areas as revised bank systemic risk standards, easing of … Continue Reading

Latest issue of Global Asset Management Quarterly now available

By Kathleen Scott (US) on May 25, 2018 Posted in Asset management, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

The ninth issue 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

More guidance on the new FinCEN “beneficial ownership” rule

By Kathleen Scott (US) on May 14, 2018 Posted in Banking, Brokers and Intermediaries, Commodities & Derivatives, Enforcement, General, Money laundering, Regulation and compliance, United States

In May 2016, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. agency tasked with issuing anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, issued a final rule requiring that certain categories of financial institutions identify the beneficial owners of their legal entity customers and incorporate customer due diligence procedures into their required AML compliance programs. The regulation was effective … Continue Reading

Regulatory reform in financial services in China

By Kathleen Scott (US) on May 8, 2018 Posted in Banking, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

On April 27, 2018, various financial regulators in China promulgated new measures further opening up the financial services industry to foreign investment, regulating non-financial entities investing in financial institutions and tightening up control over the conduct of asset management business by financial institutions. Our colleagues in Beijing and Shanghai, Sun Hong, Wang Yi, Lynn Yang, … Continue Reading

Foreign bank prevails in US Supreme Court on Alien Tort Statute Case

By Kathleen Scott (US) on April 30, 2018 Posted in Banking, General, United States

In an opinion issued on April 24, 2018, Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, a divided US Supreme Court held that litigants cannot use the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, to sue foreign corporations. The decision put an end to a split among the lower courts and in narrowing the ATS’s application, the decision … Continue Reading

New York State starts cryptocurrency exchange inquiry; SEC and CFTC foresee additional cryptocurrency and ICO regulation

By Andrew Lom (US) and Rachael Browndorf (US) on April 24, 2018 Posted in Commodities & Derivatives, Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

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

Anatomy of an ICO

By Kathleen Scott (US) on April 12, 2018 Posted in Fintech, General, Regulation and compliance, Securities, United States

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