Politics, Legal & Regulation

November 16, 2022 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Committee on Financial Services has announced a hearing on the failure of FTX and its affiliated entities. The announcement was bipartisan in nature as the current Chair of the Committee, Maxine Waters, was joined by Ranking Member Patrick McHenry in announcing the hearing… Read More

November 15, 2022 @ 5:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael J. Hsu, testified in front of the Senate Committee on Banking today. In prepared testimony, the Acting Comptroller outlined his priorities for the bank regulator. In opening statements, the Chair of the Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown, took a… Read More

November 15, 2022 @ 12:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Division of Enforcement, has published its annual activity report for the fiscal year 2022. The Division of Enforcement is the largest section of the SEC and leverages the bulk of the agency’s budget. During the SEC’s fiscal year of… Read More

November 15, 2022 @ 10:20 am By JD Alois  |  

SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, boomed in 2021. This year, the story is rather different. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, through Q3 2022, there have been 78 SPAC initial public offerings (IPOs). This compares to 444 for the nine-month period… Read More

November 15, 2022 @ 9:19 am By JD Alois  |  

An initial filing pertaining to the Chapter 11 filing for FTX and affiliated firms has surfaced today. Filed yesterday by new leadership at FTX to manage the bankruptcy proceedings, the document notes there are over 100,000 creditors with claims – a number that can balloon… Read More

November 14, 2022 @ 4:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The bankruptcy of FTX and many of its affiliated entities have pummeled all crypto markets. Many observers wonder if there is another shoe to drop. Meanwhile, crypto-associated firms continue to make announcements regarding any impact the collapse of crypto may have on their operations. It… Read More

November 14, 2022 @ 12:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

  One of the key elements of online capital formation is the fact that geography is not as important. While traditional venture hubs, like the Bay area and New York City, continue to garner much of the activity in securities crowdfunding, expanding access to capital… Read More

November 14, 2022 @ 9:42 am By JD Alois  |  

According to a note from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), LedgerX LLC (dba FTX US Derivatives), has pulled its application to amend FTX’s Amended Order of Registration as a derivatives clearing organization to allow FTX to offer products that are not fully collateralized. The… Read More

November 13, 2022 @ 5:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

As details of the FTX collapse continue to emerge, criticism has turned into a pile-on in regard to Sam Bankman-Fried’s mismanagement of the crypto exchange and affiliated entities, including his hedge fund Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried is said to be in the Bahamas, where authorities are… Read More

November 12, 2022 @ 4:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hash Blockchain Limited, a member of the HashKey Group, a digital asset financial services group in Asia, has “received approval” from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) in order “to operate a virtual asset trading platform, under a Type 1 (dealing in… Read More

November 12, 2022 @ 3:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (the Commission) took action “to freeze assets of FTX Digital Markets and related parties.” The Commission also “suspended the registration and applied to the Supreme Court of The Bahamas for the appointment of a provisional liquidator of FTX Digital… Read More

November 12, 2022 @ 3:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Russia proposes to discuss possible circulation of digital assets “at exchange trading, harmonization of approaches to their taxation with traditional financial instruments, conditions for acquiring digital assets by individual institutional investors, establishment of the accounting procedure for such investments, as well as… Read More

November 11, 2022 @ 10:59 am By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York Innovation Center (NYIC), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have announced a partnership aimed at experimenting with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to improve the efficiency of cross border wholesale payments using multiple currencies. The… Read More

November 11, 2022 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

In an action that should come as no surprise, FTX (International), along with its affiliated firms, including FTX.us and Alamada Research, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The news was revealed via Twitter in FTX’s main account. What was once the 2nd largest crypto exchange in… Read More

November 10, 2022 @ 2:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ten years ago, a group of proponents published a document that outlined “A Framework for European Crowdfunding.” The document was widely distributed as individuals interested in online capital formation shared the framework, looking to garner support among policymakers to enable securities crowdfunding. The main authors… Read More

November 10, 2022 @ 11:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain Association announced that it has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple. This case, which is just one in a long line of SEC efforts to regulate by enforcement, highlights the SEC’s efforts “to cement and… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 1:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Things are going from bad to worse for FTX, which was the second-largest crypto exchange in the world – just last week. Reports have filtered in that regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are “probing” FTX.us… Read More

November 8, 2022 @ 4:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Following the news that Binance will acquire FTX.com due to liquidity problems, Congressman Patrick McHenry, the ranking Republican member on the House Committee on Financial Services, has issued a statement that there is a need for Congressional action. McHenry has long been supportive of Fintech… Read More

November 8, 2022 @ 4:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Union has posted the “delegated regulation” regarding European Securities Crowdfunding Provider Regulation (ECSPR). The document supplements previous documents as the EU works towards all platforms operating under the new rules. In November 2020, the EU approved new regulation for investment crowdfunding allowing issuers… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Galaxy, which claims to be the “industry-leading” financial innovation company, has become the first central bank regulated Open Finance platform in the MENA region “after receiving a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), allowing the firm to operate as a regulated Third-Party… Read More