Tagged: enforcement

November 16, 2018 @ 3:13 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The first person to be prosecuted in the US for ICO (initial coin offering) fraud has pleaded guilty to misleading 1000 investors, Bloomberg reports. On Thursday, Maksim Zaslavskiy, 39, admitted in a Brooklyn federal courtroom that he collected money for two ICOs: RECoin and Diamond… Read More

November 16, 2018 @ 12:04 pm By Cali Haan  |  

This has been a big week for digital asset / ICO law in America. Yesterday, Maksim Zaslavskiy pleaded guilty to fraud in a federal court in Brooklyn for selling the digital tokens RECoin and Diamond Reserve Coin, tokens he falsely claimed were backed by real-world… Read More

November 15, 2018 @ 3:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Enforcement Director James M. McDonald delivered a speech yesterday addressing current trends regarding enforcement actions and, of course, crypto and virtual currencies were on the list. Speaking at the NYU School of Law, McDonald said the Commission is adapting… Read More

November 8, 2018 @ 3:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Today, the first enforcement action was taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a cryptocurrency exchange; EtherDelta. Prior to this, the SEC had only targeted issuers and promoters of crypto – largely for fraud and selling unregistered securities.  While the action against EtherData is… Read More

November 7, 2018 @ 2:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Texas State Securities Board has issued an emergency cease and desist order to two ostensible cryptocurrency miners. Yesterday, the C&Ds were placed against Quebec, Canada-based EXY Crypto, and AWS Mining PTY Ltd., based in Sydney, Australia. Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles issued a statement indicating the… Read More

November 5, 2018 @ 8:02 am By JD Alois  |  

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Division of Enforcement, issued their annual report updating on fiscal 2018 enforcement actions. According to the report, 2018 was a busy year as more than 821 enforcement actions occurred, representing a “diverse mix” of securities law transgressions…. Read More

October 22, 2018 @ 9:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

Gal Vallerius, a dual French-Israeli citizen from the Brittany region of France, was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to, “conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money,” court documents indicate. Mr Vallerius,… Read More

October 19, 2018 @ 9:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the group that represents state, provincial and territorial securities regulators, has published their annual enforcement report for 2017. Each year, NASAA correlates a summary of all the legal actions, including penalties and criminal prosecution from the US, Canada and… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 3:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained final judgement against Richard J. Greenlaw, a founder of a medical marijuana company. According to the SEC, Greenlaw created 20 affiliated entities and then raised $500,000 from investors by using Craigslist – the popular online classified site. The twenty cannabis-related… Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 1:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler issued three separate Cease & Desist (C&D) orders against three initial coin offerings (ICOs). The new C&Ds are part of an ongoing initiative by the Commissioner and the Department’s ICO Task Force which is investigating questionable… Read More

October 12, 2018 @ 3:07 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been following up on “scores” of subpoenas it sent in January to companies issuing ICOs (initial coin offerings) and is now focussing on those and “many more” that sold ICOs to unaccredited investors, Yahoo Finance reports. Based… Read More

October 11, 2018 @ 12:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against an initial coin offering (ICO) that falsely claimed to be approved by the SEC. The enforcement action was filed against Blockvest LLC and company founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III. Additionally, the SEC obtained an emergency… Read More

October 3, 2018 @ 1:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, CI reported on a court ruling where the Judge determined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has jurisdiction in the case of My Big Coin Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The statement by the court will have ramifications for other actions pertaining to ICO… Read More

October 1, 2018 @ 9:46 pm By Onki Kwan  |  

On September 27, 2018, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk for committing securities fraud because of some tweets he published on August 7, 2018. A mere two days later, September 29, 2018, Musk settled with the SEC. As part of their settlement agreement,… Read More

September 30, 2018 @ 11:22 am By JD Alois  |  

“…when companies and corporate insiders make statements, they must act responsibly, including endeavoring to ensure the statements are not false or misleading and do not omit information a reasonable investor would consider important in making an investment decision.” – Jay Clayton, Chairman of the SEC… Read More

September 28, 2018 @ 2:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) has responded to the just announced charges and settlement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pertaining to allegations of misconduct by former executives. Specifically, LendingClub Asset Management, along with former Executives Renaud Laplanche and Carrie Dolan, have entered into a settlement with… Read More

September 28, 2018 @ 2:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged LendingClub Asset Management LLC, and former President Renaud Laplanche with fraud for improperly using fund money to benefit LendingClub.  LendingClub Asset Management, Laplanche, and former CFO Carrie Dolan, also were charged with improperly adjusting fund returns. The… Read More

September 27, 2018 @ 6:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an enforcement action today against an Austria based international securities dealer with providing securities swaps funded by Bitcoin. The SEC charges Patrick Brunner, CEO of 1pool Ltd. a/k/a 1Broker – registered in the Marshall Islands, with violations of US… Read More

September 27, 2018 @ 1:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The SEC told a New York courtroom Tuesday that two defendants accused of selling a fraudulent ICO (initial coin offering) called “Plexcoin” have been ignoring court orders to document their assets and are refusing to “participate meaningfully” in an SEC court action against them. According… Read More

September 21, 2018 @ 10:13 am By JD Alois  |  

The saga of the GAW Miners / ZenMiner fraud has come to an end. On September 13, 2018, the perpetrator of the fraud, Homero Joshua Garza, was sentenced to 21 months of imprisonment. The criminal action was completed alongside an SEC civil enforcement action. The US… Read More