Tagged: sec

February 2, 2018 @ 12:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The KROPS Initial Coin Offering has received a Cease & Desist (C&D) from the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission. The C&D, embedded below, demands the immediate halt to the sale of KROPS Tokens or KropCoins. The SEC states the company has not filed the necessary… Read More

January 30, 2018 @ 3:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has slammed the brakes on another initial coin offering (ICO) that flouted established securities laws. The SEC obtained a court order halting the AriseBank ICO that targeted retail investors to invest in the “world’s first decentralized bank. AriseCoin’s public… Read More

January 26, 2018 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

  This past week both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission came out with strong statements warning the exuberant initial coin offering industry (ICO) that regulators will no longer tolerate the flouting of existing securities law. ICOs have increased rapidly… Read More

January 25, 2018 @ 3:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

In another obvious sign that the federal government is ramping up enforcement actions against initial coin offerings that do not file for an appropriate securities exemption or commit other illegal acts such as fraud, CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo and SEC Chairman Jay Clayton jointly published… Read More

January 22, 2018 @ 7:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton delivered a speech today to the Securities Regulation Institute. While covering several topics, Chair Clayton hit upon the hot subject of initial coin offerings (ICO) and the swirling regulatory environment delivering a stern rebuke to market… Read More

January 19, 2018 @ 1:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bot the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) have been dedicating additional resources towards cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and the hot initial coin offering market. Today, the CFTC released two reports regarding enforcement actions against crypto-related fraud.  Simultaneously, the… Read More

January 19, 2018 @ 9:09 am By JD Alois  |  

Following the announcement by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it had undertaken two enforcement actions against Bitcoin / virtual currency related fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC issued a joint statement from SEC co-enforcement Directors Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin… Read More

January 15, 2018 @ 4:39 pm By Jason Best & Sherwood Neiss  |  

Recently, my company crafted a report for the US Securities and Exchange Commission that summarizes progress on Title III of the JOBS Act of 2012, also referred to Regulation Crowdfunding or Reg CF. This newest securities exemption was added to the options that smaller companies… Read More

January 11, 2018 @ 9:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has finally filled the two vacant seats on the Commission as Hester M. Peirce and Robert J. Jackson were sworn in today by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Peirce and Jackson will join the other two Commissioners, Kara Stein and Michael… Read More

January 10, 2018 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Punch TV, perhaps the first potential issuer to attempt to raise capital using updated rules under Reg A+, has had its offer suspended by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The administrative proceeding by the SEC follows an “Offer of Settlement” by Punch TV that… Read More

January 8, 2018 @ 1:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a trading suspension for UBI Blockchain Internet, Ltd. The SEC said they had questions regarding the accuracy of assertions, since at least September 2017, by UBIA in filings with the SEC regarding the company’s business operations. The SEC… Read More

January 7, 2018 @ 8:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Anytime I am around a securities attorney (which is quite often) inevitably the 33 Act or the 40 Act comes up in conversation. For normal people (non-attorneys) this legal speak can be confusing, riven by acronyms and stifled by dogma. Yet much of the regulatory… Read More

December 22, 2017 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hester Peirce and Robert Jackson were both confirmed by a Senate voice yesterday as Commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Peirce will immediately begin a term that expires in 2020. Jackson will complete the remainder of a term that expires in 2019. The confirmation… Read More

December 19, 2017 @ 11:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an order to suspend the trading in shares of The Crypto Company (OTC Pink:CRCW). Shares in The Crypto Company had recently risen to over $640 per share. The 52 week low of shares in CRCW were $3.30 each…. Read More

December 18, 2017 @ 2:23 pm By Joshua Ashley Klayman & Jay G. Baris  |  

  This article is written by the authors solely in their personal capacities, and the views expressed are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer or any other person.  This article does not constitute, and should not be relied… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 4:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Today, the Securities and Exchange Division announced it had halted an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) as an unregulated securities offering. Munchee, a food review App based on Blockchain, agreed to refund all investors without accepting nor denying the allegation. The ICO was seeking $15 million… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 3:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has shut down an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) as conducting an unregistered securities offering. This is the first time the SEC has has halted an ICO where there were no allegations of fraud representing a new shift in approach… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 1:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Perkins Coie, a law firm that is very active in the Fintech / Blockchain space, has announced the hiring of a former SEC attorney. Michael S. Didiuk has joined the firm’s Investment Management practice group as a partner in the San Francisco office where he… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scam that reportedly raised up to $15 million from thousands of investors since August. Dominic Lacroix, and his company, PlexCorps, had launched the PlexCoin ICO and falsely… Read More

December 2, 2017 @ 2:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week, Blockchain at Berkeley was the host to an ICO Financing Conference. Participating at the event were representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Blockchain at Berkeley is a student run, independent organization dedicated to the crypto and distributed ledger space. The… Read More