Politics, Legal & Regulation

December 3, 2019 @ 11:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) along with three other federal agencies and in conjunction with the state bank regulators have issued a statement clarifying the legal status of hemp growth and production and the relevant requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act… Read More

December 2, 2019 @ 8:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed Kristina Littman as Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Cyber Unit, a specialized unit that focuses on protecting investors and markets from cyber-related misconduct. Littman succeeds Robert Cohen, who left the Commission in August 2019.  Cohen was… Read More

December 2, 2019 @ 4:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Crypto Valley Association (CVA), a Switzerland based blockchain advocacy group, has published an “Asset Tokenization Paper” at the inaugural launch event for its Western Chapter today taking place at the EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The CVA seeks to define the… Read More

December 2, 2019 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a significant review of the securities exemption ecosystem in June of this year. During the past few decades, the Commission, with some help from Congress, has updated and added to the many rules that regulate private securities offerings…. Read More

December 1, 2019 @ 9:12 am By JD Alois  |  

Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, has been appointed as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. As part of this role, Carney will support the Secretary-General’s climate strategy by galvanizing climate action and transforming climate finance, according to… Read More

November 30, 2019 @ 11:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of Bakkt – a digital asset exchange and a subsidiary of ICE, has been selected by the Governor of Georgia to fill an open seat in the US Senate. Thank you @GovKemp for this important opportunity to serve our state and… Read More

November 30, 2019 @ 11:16 pm By Xu Gao  |  

The People’s Bank of China Releases Financial Stability Report with Special Focus on Online Lending The People’s Bank of China (PBC) released the 2019 China Financial Stability Report lately, which gives a comprehensive review of the soundness of China’s financial system since 2018. While incremental… Read More

November 30, 2019 @ 4:03 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Following reports of multiple “rectification” incidents executed against cryptocurrency businesses in China last week, including alleged raids on a Binance office in Beijing, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced November 25th that it has closed two-thirds of the country’s online lending institutions and 173… Read More

November 29, 2019 @ 11:08 pm By Cali Haan  |  

An Ethereum programmer who allegedly traveled to North Korea to deliver a presentation and technical advice on using cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions was arrested on Thursday at the Los Angeles airport. Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency network after Bitcoin. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is maintained and… Read More

November 29, 2019 @ 2:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

China is cracking down on its “massive” cryptocurrency sector, Japan Times reports, and this time it seems pretty real. Bitcoin was officially banned in China in late 2016 when, according to Morgan Stanley, Chinese yuan was being used in more than 95% of Bitcoin trades…. Read More

November 29, 2019 @ 9:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The Swiss Federal Council has moved to improved the legal certainty regarding the framework for the utilization of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT).  During a meeting on November 27th, the Federal Council adopted language designed to mitigate risk while removing barriers for DLT utilization…. Read More

November 29, 2019 @ 8:52 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) Luxembourg have made an agreement to work cooperatively to develop Fintech-related platforms. The cooperation framework shows that both regulators have made an effort to encourage the development of innovative technologies… Read More

November 28, 2019 @ 10:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CipherTrace, an established crypto and blockchain intelligence company, has published its Q3 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering (AML) report. The report addresses “cryptocurrency regulation, nefarious actors within the ecosystem, impending legislation, international trends and prevailing sentiments,” according to a press release shared with CrowdFund Insider. The… Read More

November 28, 2019 @ 8:43 am By JD Alois  |  

This week, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published a report on how it intends to dramatically reduce the regulatory burden in Canada’s most economically robust province. The report was completed after a 12 month review period and supported by the Ontario Ministry of Finance. Governments… Read More

November 28, 2019 @ 8:02 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The government of Ontario is looking to updating their regulatory policies for capital markets while reducing the regulatory burden. Improvements for both large and small firms are the goal. This includes innovative businesses in Fintech as they will receive: “more flexibility in the OSC’s approach… Read More

November 27, 2019 @ 9:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The company behind an Estonia-headquartered, Nasdaq-powered digital currency exchange DX.Exchange is reportedly halting its operations, after a petition submitted by its workers. CX Technologies, the Israeli firm that had been managing DX.Exchange’s operations, entered bankruptcy after 78 employees filed a petition against the exchange with… Read More

November 27, 2019 @ 9:35 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Mark Scott, a lawyer accused of abetting the multibillion dollar OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, has been convicted of money laundering and bank fraud. Scott is now facing up to 50 years in prison. According to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman: “Mark S. Scott, an equity partner… Read More

November 27, 2019 @ 4:23 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A judge in the state of Washington has denied a cryptocurrency trader’s petition to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from accessing records of his 2016 trades at the Bitstamp cryptocurrency exchange. Judge John Coughenour has, however, determined that the IRS’s original summons goes “overboard”… Read More

November 27, 2019 @ 12:57 am By JD Alois  |  

US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Justin Muzinich delivered a speech this week where he addressed the emerging landscape of digital currencies. Muzinich commented on the “broader innovation trends that are shaping our banking and financial system.” Muzinich said: “While banks today provide a range… Read More

November 26, 2019 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

On November 12, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, met in Washington, DC to discuss several important issues that impact small businesses in the US. As one would expect, the discussion included the ongoing challenge of providing access to… Read More