Politics, Legal & Regulation

May 4, 2022 @ 4:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced charges and a court-ordered asset freeze against two individuals who allegedly generated over $12 million by engaging in a ploy to “deceptively obtain stock pick information” from Motley Fool subscription services before it was disseminated to its… Read More

May 4, 2022 @ 3:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

As was widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points. Simultaneously, the Fed said it would be significantly reduce its balance sheet as it battles fast-rising inflation. The increase was the largest increase since 2000. In the Federal Open Market… Read More

May 4, 2022 @ 3:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Two of the most successful investment crowdfunding platforms, Wefunder and StartEngine, have been hit with penalties by FINRA. According to a statement by FINRA, Wefunder has been assessed with a $1.4 million fine and StartEngine must pay $350,000 in regards to failing to comply with… Read More

May 3, 2022 @ 11:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Last year was a big one for the SPAC [special purpose acquisition company] market. Reportedly, 613 SPAC offerings were floated on an exchange easily topping 420 traditional initial public offerings. Since the beginning of 2022, SPAC offerings have slowed to around 62 so far. SPACs… Read More

May 3, 2022 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will double its enforcement team when it comes to the crypto or digital assets sector. According to a statement by the SEC, the renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly the Cyber Unit) will increase its headcount to 50… Read More

May 2, 2022 @ 7:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Margrethe Vestager, EU Executive VP, Competition Policy, is pursuing big tech once again, this time hitting Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) with anti-trust charges. Today in a public statement, the European Commission said it has sent a Statement of Objections to Apple regarding its view that it abused its… Read More

May 1, 2022 @ 4:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently pursuing new rules under the auspices of ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance. In March of 2022, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler explained they were aiming to require disclosure for firms on issues such as climate impact. He explained: “The… Read More

April 29, 2022 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee (SBCFAC) has scheduled a meeting to discuss two specific topics: SPACs or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies and Climate Disclosure. The meeting will take place on Friday, May 6, 2022. According to a statement by… Read More

April 29, 2022 @ 12:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Steven Chiang a/k/a Cyrus Kong, Eric Tippetts, James Hardy, and Maurice “Butch” Chelliah in regards to an alleged digital asset offering that has been deemed an unregistered securities offering. According to the other SEC, the defendants raised… Read More

April 28, 2022 @ 4:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Big tech firm and iPhone creator Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is going to be hammered once again by the European Union. This time with accusations that Apple Pay is anti-competitive. Apple Pay was introduced by Apple in 2014 along with iPhone 6 and has been slowly rolled… Read More

April 28, 2022 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued charges against Block Bits Capital, LLC, Block Bits Capital GP I, LLC, and the co-founders Japheth Dillman and David Mata, alleging fraudulent offering of unregistered securities. Block Bits along with Dillman and Mata, apparently raised about $1 million… Read More

April 28, 2022 @ 8:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Committee on Financial Services has a busy day planned. Frist, a full Committee hearing is scheduled to address “Oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network”  or FinCEN. FinCEN is the enforcement arm of the US Department of Treasury. Himamauli “Him” Das, Acting Director… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 10:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a public roundtable on May 25, 2022, to discuss issues related to intermediation in derivatives trading and clearing. Non-intermediation and the discussion on this topic will probably address distributed ledger technology and the advent of DeFi or… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 7:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Eventus, which claims to be a leading international provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, and FTX.COM, a global cryptocurrency exchange, announced that FTX has contracted with Eventus “to deploy the firm’s Validus platform for trade surveillance and risk monitoring on all… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 12:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with the New York Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI), claiming the payments and transfers firm was leaving “families high and dry.” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra claimed that MoneyGram “spent years failing its… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 11:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The New York State Assembly has passed legislation to ban crypto mining in the state until a review has been completed. To quote the summary: “[The legislation] Establishes a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions; provides that… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 9:06 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Sung Kook (Bill) Hwang, the owner of the family office Archegos Capital Management, with allegations of a massive fraud that “resulted in billions of dollars in losses.” The SEC alleges that Hwang and Archegos purchased security-based swaps… Read More

April 27, 2022 @ 8:55 am By JD Alois  |  

HM Government of Gibraltar has published new regulations aiming to set a standard for market integrity in the digital asset sector.  The goal is to the prevention of market manipulation and insider trading as well as additional disclosure and outlined trading standards. According to a… Read More

April 26, 2022 @ 8:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Rohit Chopra, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will visit with the House Committee on Financial Services tomorrow (April 27) for the semi-annual report on the CFPB. Included in the Hearing Memo, among other items, is the topic of “Responding to Emerging… Read More

April 26, 2022 @ 8:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Federal Court in Australia has reportedly ordered Westpac to pay penalties in the amount of $113 million “for widespread compliance failures across multiple businesses, including Westpac’s banking, superannuation, wealth management and insurance brands.” Justice Beach recently handed down his decision “in the last of… Read More