U.S. Developments Hester Peirce Remarks at Cato Institute Conference Hester Peirce made remarks at the Cato Institute’s Fintech Unbound conference on September 12, 2018. Commissioner Peirce commented that securities regulators are too risk averse, stating that “capital markets are all about taking risk, and queasiness around risk-taking is particularly inapt” and that “a key purpose … Continue Reading
The following summary is available in our sister blog, The Fintech Report. State Bank Regulators and NYDFS to renew litigation against OCC Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 10-14, 2018 U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates U.S. Judge Says Initial Coin Offerings May Be Covered by Securities Law On September 11, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie … Continue Reading
This post originally appeared in The Derivatives and Repo Report, and can be accessed here.: In this multi-part posting, we outline key considerations for investment funds and their advisers regarding the application of the U.S commodity laws to cryptocurrency derivatives. Part 1 focuses on the status of cryptocurrencies as commodities and how that status relates … Continue Reading
For those of you who have been following along thus far, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets (“SEC Staff”) have been wrestling since December 2017 with whether to approve or disapprove exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in bitcoin futures contracts. On August 22, 2018, the SEC Staff decided … Continue Reading
“Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—A Hard Part” was recently posted on Perkins Coie’s Asset Management ADVocate blog. The blog post continues the analysis of the difficult question of how to comply with regulations requiring independent custody of cryptocurrency. This series focuses on the custody requirements for registered investment companies in an attempt to respond … Continue Reading
“Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—The Simple Part” was recently posted on Perkins Coie’s Asset Management ADVocate blog. The post begins with an analysis of the difficult question of how to comply with regulations requiring independent custody of cryptocurrency. This series will focus on the custody requirements for registered investment companies in an attempt to … Continue Reading
U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates Ohio Enacts Cybersecurity Law with addition of Blockchain to Ohio’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act… Continue Reading
On July 26, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) issued an order, by a 3-1 vote, disapproving a proposed rule change (the “Proposal”) that would have allowed for a bitcoin exchange-traded product (“ETP”) (the “Order”). In the Order, the SEC re-asserted many of its prior concerns and reasons for denying the same proposal … Continue Reading
On July 26, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) issued an order disapproving a proposed rule change that would have allowed for a bitcoin exchange-traded product (“ETP”) (the “Order”). However, the Order was not unanimous amongst the SEC’s Commissioners. Commissioner Hester M. Peirce issued a stand-alone dissent against the Order, arguing that the … Continue Reading
The following update is on our Fintech Legal Report: FINRA Issues a Regulatory Notice for Firms to Let FINRA Know About Digital Asset Activities Blockchain Week in Review: Week of July 9, 2018 U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates Vermont Enacts Blockchain Business Development Bill On May 30, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed SB 269 (thereby becoming … Continue Reading
U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates SEC and CFTC Announce New Cooperation Agreement On June 28, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new Memorandum of Understanding meant to allow two agencies to further coordinate in areas of common interest. Under the MOU, the two agencies agreed to identify areas of … Continue Reading
Updates: Yet again, the SEC instituted proceedings on April 5, 2018 to determine whether it will approve or disapprove a proposal by Cboe BZX Exchange on behalf of GraniteShares Bitcoin ETF and GraniteShares Short Bitcoin ETF (see our discussion of the Cboe Order above). On June 28, 2018 the SEC extended its period of review for … Continue Reading
From Uncertainty toward Regulatory Clarity: Senior SEC Officials Provide Regulatory Clarity for Digital Assets Summary is below, please click here for the full alert narrative. On June 14, 2018, the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission delivered a speech outlining the framework used by the SEC Staff in … Continue Reading
In a speech today during a crypto conference in San Francisco, a top Securities and Exchange Commission official expressed his view that, at this point, sales of Ether are not securities transactions. Speaking from prepared remarks, Bill Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance said: “Based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the … Continue Reading
The primary professional organization for accounting professionals (AICPA) recently renewed their requests to the Internal Revenue Service for U.S. virtual currency guidance on key tax issues. The IRS has not shown any willingness to publish more advice in this area, so a response to the letter may not be forthcoming. The IRS has ignored the AICPA’s … Continue Reading
U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates CFTC Staff Issues Advisory to Exchanges and Clearinghouses on Virtual Currency Derivatives On May 21, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk released an advisory that provides guidance to designated contract markets (DCM), swap execution facilities (SEF), and derivatives clearing organizations (DCO) … Continue Reading
In a recently published letter to the Senate Finance Committee, FinCEN confirmed that when an ICO token is a “convertible virtual currency,” administrators or exchangers of the token would be “money transmitters” under existing FinCEN regulations and interpretations. Under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a money transmitter must register with FinCEN as a money services … Continue Reading
On February 6, 2018, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs conducted a hearing entitled “Virtual Currencies: The Oversight Role of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.” Hearing. The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, and the Chairman of the … Continue Reading
On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) issued a proposed interpretation of the term “actual delivery” as used in the provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) that grants the CFTC explicit authority to oversee the marketplace for “retail commodity transactions.” This is the second blog posting in a … Continue Reading
On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) issued a proposed interpretation of the term “actual delivery” as used in the provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) that grants the CFTC explicit authority to oversee the marketplace for “retail commodity transactions”. This is the first blog posting in a … Continue Reading
On Friday, December 1, 2017, the SEC filed an emergency action in federal district court in Brooklyn alleging that Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Roger, both from Quebec, Canada, raised approximately $15 million in a purported fraudulent unregistered Initial Coin Offering (ICO) involving PlexCoin. In its complaint, the SEC alleged that a recidivist Quebec securities law … Continue Reading
Under the impact of the Chinese government’s recent formal notices of halting ICOs, Notice 99 and Joint Notice released on September 2, 2017 and September 4, 2017 respectively [1], Beijing authorities have taken further actions and held meetings with Beijing-based trading platforms with regard to a trading halt on September 15, 2017, following Shanghai’s “verbal … Continue Reading
