By: Paul Coste “No matter how evasive insider traders’ conduct, or the lengths gone to hide their offenses, this Office will track down and prosecute those who attempt to cheat the system.” – Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated on Thursday, September 28, 2023, as federal prosecutors announced… Read More Inside Trading on Xbox 360?
By: Paul Coste The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been denying applications for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since the Winklevoss twins’ first application in 2017, consistently reasoning that the products are not “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices,” which is required by the Exchange Act. However, the agency does not… Read More Spot vs. Futures: Analyzing the SEC’s Dilemma in Bitcoin ETF Approvals
By: Casey Reilly In November 2020, Covington & Burling suffered a Microsoft Exchange cyber-attack sponsored by Hafnium, a group of Chinese-sponsored threat actors. Hafnium is a highly sophisticated actor that exploited four vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange email platform in order to steal data from U.S. contractors, infectious disease researchers, and law firms. Fast forward… Read More Is Attorney-Client Privilege Strong Enough to Uphold the SEC?
By: Alexandra Evarts In a growing push for private industry to address its climate impact, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has proposed new requirements for public companies to disclose environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) related information. The new rules, which were initially proposed in March 2022, will mandate public companies to provide certain climate-related… Read More Will the SEC’s New Climate Disclosure Rules Hold Up Under West Virginia v. EPA?
By: Aleksandra Conway Silina The proposed regulation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is causing concern amongst venture capitalists. The new rule would make it easier to hold investors accountable for negligence, increasing venture capitalists’ (“VCs’”) responsibility for the failures of the startups they fund. Aimed at addressing issues such as “lack of transparency”… Read More Is the SEC About to Hit Startups With Another Rule?
By: Catherine Nicholson On June 13, 2021, Kim Kardashian touted a cryptocurrency asset security on her Instagram account in exchange for $250,000. The asset promoted in that Instagram post was a token offered by EthereumMax: “EMAX Tokens”. EMAX Tokens are digital currency that purports to give owners of the Token special perks such as “special… Read More Kim Kardashian: Working on Her Fitness, Not So Much Her Character
This blog describes the potential effect the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc. may have on the regulation of cryptocurrency and expanding on the Howey Test’s definition of a security. … Read More SEC v. Ripple – The Ripple Effect on Cryptocurrency Regulation
Early this year, investors mobilized on Reddit to short squeeze GameStop stock, causing considerable financial repercussions for traditional Wall Street hedge funds and other short-sellers, and making headlines. In the weeks and months since the squeeze, federal agencies have taken notice, prompted by calls for regulation.… Read More Losing at Their Own Game: How Wall Street Got Squeezed by Redditors
What do the rapper T.I. and infamous computer innovator John McAfee have in common? They’ve both been indicted in 2020 on tax charges related to cryptocurrency. If you read about John McAfee in a novel, you would think the author got lazy and borrowed the character from a knock-off James Bond story. McAfee made his fortune in the 1970s and 1980s by creating one of the first anti-virus digital security companies. His actual net worth is unknown because of his unusual income, the financial collapse, and his various legal troubles. But over the past few years, McAfee has been advertising his services as a promotional base for smaller, lesser-known cryptocurrencies. … Read More Software Won’t Save You Now: McAfee, Cryptocurrency and the IRS