Tagged: sec

First Two Sanctioned ICO Issuers Settle with SEC: Will Refund Investors, Register as Securities and Pay Fines [u]

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

Thailand to Approve First ICO Portal this Month, Others to Follow

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to approve the first initial coin offering (ICO) portal at some point this month, according to a report in the Bangkok Post. The approval follows a royal decree from last May that stipulated that the Thai… Read More

Attorney on SEC Crypto Exchange Enforcement Action: “Settlement May Be Only the First”

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

First Crypto Exchange Enforcement Action: SEC Settles Charges with Zach Coburn & EtherDelta Regarding Operation of an Unregistered Exchange

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta, a cryptocurrency exchange. This is the SEC’s first enforcement action against a crypto exchange and marks a noted shift in the Commission’s dealing with secondary transactions of digital assets. The SEC… Read More

Attorney on SEC & Crypto Asset Marketplaces: “By Not Allowing Intermediaries They Are Stifling Innovation”

Recently, at the StartEngine Summit during LA Blockchain Week, CI had the chance to sit down with prominent securities attorney Linda Lerner. Lerner is Senior Counsel at Crowell Moring and a veteran lawyer with deep experience and expertise in securities issuance and regulation of stock exchanges…. Read More

Report: SEC Director of CorpFin Says Cryptocurrency Guidance Coming

According to a report today, the Director of Corporate Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bill Hinman, told an audience at DC Fintech Week that guidance will be forthcoming for cryptocurrency issuers. The report first picked up by CoinTelegraph, quoted Hinman: “We also will be… Read More

SEC Annual Enforcement Report Sees “Diverse Mix” of Enforcement Actions, Comments on Crypto: Many Ongoing Investigations

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

37th Annual SEC Government-Business Forum On Small Business Capital Formation – Columbus

The SEC and the National Center for the Middle Market at The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business will host the SEC’s annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. This annual forum provides a platform to highlight additional measures to improve… Read More

What If the SEC Approves an ETF for Bitcoin? 

The crypto community is chomping at the bit for the SEC to approve an ETF for Bitcoin, and rightly so. For the uninitiated, an ETF (exchange traded fund) is a common investment vehicle, an index fund which tracks various stock market indexes and trades like… Read More

Doug Ellenoff Discusses the Emerging Security Token Market, Contrasts STOs to the ICO World: In the US, a Utility Token is a Myth

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) hit the popular media screen during 2017 with stories of outrageous sums of money being raised online – sometimes under questionable circumstances. In total, according to EY, $4.1 billion was raised for the top ICOs during 2017. In 2018, that number… Read More

Former SEC Deputy Director of Trading & Markets Who Worked on Fintech & Crypto, Joins Steptoe

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Deputy Director of Trading and Markets Gary Goldsholle has joined the law firm Steptoe & Johnson as a partner – a law firm where he previously worked. Goldsholle spent almost four years at the SEC and was at the forefront of… Read More

The SEC Suspends Trading in American Retail Group, Operator of Simex Crypto Exchange

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an order to suspend trading in shares of American Retail Group, Inc. which trade on OTC Markets (OTC:ARGB). Trading was said to be halted due to “statements about partnering with a claimed SEC-qualified custodian for use with… Read More

SEC Enters Final Judgement Against Richard J. Greenlaw, Who Created 20 Different Cannabis Companies and Raised Money on Craigslist

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

SEC Launches New “FinHub” for Innovation and Financial Technology

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a new “FinHub” described as a strategic hub for innovation and financial technology or Fintech. According to the SEC, the FinHub will serve as a resource for public engagement on the SEC’s Fintech related issues and initiatives. These… Read More

Big Ten: The SEC Schedules Annual Government-Business Forum at Ohio State

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has scheduled the annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation for this coming December and this year they are taking the event to the Buckeye state. The SEC announced today the Forum will be held at the Ohio State… Read More

SEC Provides Temporary Relief for Issuers Using Reg CF & Reg A+ Impacted by Hurricane Michael

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued temporary rules for companies that issued securities under Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and Regulation A (Reg A+). The rules provide relief for victims of Hurricane Michael. The “interim final temporary rule”  extends the deadline for issuers subject to… Read More

Stanford-Trained Brazilian Professor Warns SEC Not to Approve Bitcoin ETF

A Stanford-trained Brazilian professor of computer science has left several of the sacred cows of Bitcoin wounded in the field after submitting a systematic take down of several of the coin’s tropes to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In early July, the SEC… Read More

SEC Expands Scrutiny of Companies That Sold ICOs to Unaccredited Investors

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

Fraud: SEC Shuts Down Blockvest ICO that Allegedly Falsely Claimed SEC Approval & Created a Fictitious Regulator: the “Blockchain Exchange Commission”

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

What We Can Learn From the SEC’s Lawsuit Against Elon Musk

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

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