Politics, Legal & Regulation

April 8, 2020 @ 4:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Do you find the alphabet soup of securities exemptions confusing? Well, you are not alone. A more Machiavellian type would posit that exempt securities offerings were designed by lawyers knowing that the Hoi Polloi would be willing to pay top dollar to decipher the jumble… Read More

April 8, 2020 @ 2:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Telegram has been engaged in an ongoing battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the sale of GRAM tokens – an offering that raised $1.7 billion. The legal fisticuffs kicked off last October when the SEC filed an emergency action and obtained a… Read More

April 8, 2020 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Last weekend, a campaign to aid early-stage UK firms, entitled Save Our Startups, was launched by a group of very high profile platforms, founders, investors, and advocacy groups. An Open Letter addressed to the PM was included and as of today over 4500 individuals have… Read More

April 7, 2020 @ 10:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Chatter continues to trickle in that the Payroll Protection Program is floundering a bit during the first few days of the initiative. The Payroll Protection Program (PPP) is part of the $2 trillion CARES Act – the bailout package addressing the COVID-19 onslaught. The PPP… Read More

April 7, 2020 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending platform TWINO is the latest online lender planning to expand its portfolio of services offered to its customers. According to a release, TWINO has applied for an investment brokerage license in Latvia. It was not immediately clear which additional services the… Read More

April 7, 2020 @ 8:20 am By JD Alois  |  

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged all UK businesses. But smaller firms and early-stage companies may end up bearing the brunt of the impact as these companies can be less well prepared to endure an ongoing economic shutdown. Today, the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA) is… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 9:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet fully understood. We all know it is going to be bad – the question is how bad and how long. In the US, the current administration has rushed to escort a huge stimulus bill through… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 4:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

As was reported earlier today, the law firms of Roche Cyrulnik Freedman and Selendy & Gay filed a squadron of class action lawsuits targeting multiple crypto exchanges as well as token issuers. The two firms targeted four exchanges, including Bitmex and Binance as well as… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 2:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US, will establish a facility to facilitate lending to small businesses via the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by providing term financing backed by PPP loans. The news was distributed in a very brief… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 1:32 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Risk Alert against the Hype of Overseas Virtual Currency Exchanges Back in 2017, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), Cyberspace Administration of China and other 5 ministries published the “Notice on Guarding against Risks of ICOs”, stipulating that virtual currency trading and ICOs are illegal… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 1:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Two law firms, Roche Cyrulnik Freedman and Selendy & Gay, have jointly filed 11 class actions against well-known crypto exchanges. The lawsuits also include accusations of “manipulative conduct” by Bitmex. The allegations were filed in the Southern District of New York against four crypto exchanges… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 11:32 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has scheduled an open meeting for this coming Wednesday (Apri 8, 2020) to consider amendments that may improve the ecosystem to foster access to capital for SMEs. As we all know, SMEs have been pummeled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many… Read More

April 6, 2020 @ 11:14 am By JD Alois  |  

On March 10, 2020, the Bank of England, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to reduce Bank Rate and to introduce a new Term Funding Scheme with additional incentives for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (TFSME). Today, the Bank is announcing that the TFSME will open for… Read More

April 5, 2020 @ 10:17 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdcube co-founder Luke Lang has announced a new initiative to help entrepreneurs and small companies during the COVID-19 crisis. Distributed in an email today, Crowdcube announced the launch of Save Our Startups (SOC). Simultaneously, Crowdcube posted an open letter directed to UK Prime Minister Boris… Read More

April 4, 2020 @ 4:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) cautioned an SEC Committee about the potential for fraud during the COVID-19 outbreak. NASAA is the lobbying group that represents state and provincial securities regulators. Christopher W. Gerold, NASAA President and Chief of the New Jersey Bureau… Read More

April 3, 2020 @ 10:04 am By JD Alois  |  

Following intense criticism regarding the confines of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), HM Treasury expanded the program in a move to support a broader range of businesses – most importantly smaller firms. Last week, Rangewell, a business finance specialist, posted an open letter… Read More

April 3, 2020 @ 7:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Wolters Kluwer’s Compliance Program Management (CPM) business has introduced the Coronavirus Noteworthy Developments Bulletins, which aim to bring together all the global regulatory modifications, orders, notices and various other updates for the financial services sector (as they relate to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak). The newly… Read More

April 3, 2020 @ 7:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Spain’s tax authorities have begun sending warning letters to around 66,000 digital asset investors. The Spanish tax agency aims to remind cryptocurrency holders of their tax obligations. The Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) reportedly began its crypto-related tax collection campaign on April 1, 2020…. Read More

April 2, 2020 @ 7:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced new measures to support firms impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The update includes broader access to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and creating a new plan for larger firms. The Chancellor announced that HM Treasury… Read More

April 2, 2020 @ 2:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week the SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation announced a series of  “virtual coffee breaks” to engage with the public to discuss updates, trends, and perspectives on how COVID-19 is impacting raising capital. The very first virtual gather is… Read More