Tag:regulation

1
CFPB Wants to Oversee Large Nonbank Digital Payment Providers
2
CFTC Files Complaint Against Voyager’s Former CEO Stephen Ehrlich Alleging Fraud and Registration Failures
3
CFPB Raises Alarms Without Providing All the Facts
4
CFTC Chair Asserts Jurisdiction Over Fiat-Based Stablecoins
5
In a Rare Decision On Abandoned Property Law, The US Supreme Court Rules Against Delaware
6
AUSTRALIA: Treasury Releases Token Mapping Consultation Paper
7
Renewed Era of Crypto Assets Growth in Hong Kong
8
California Legislators Continue To Assess How To Regulate Digital Assets
9
Federal Reserve Doubles Down on Oversight of Crypto Activities for Banks
10
FDIC Warns Banks on Crypto-Related Deposit Insurance Customer Confusion

CFPB Wants to Oversee Large Nonbank Digital Payment Providers

By Jeremy McLaughlin, Andrew Hinkes, and Josh Durham

Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, according to the agency, aims to “crack down on [fintech] regulatory arbitrage by ensuring large technology firms and other nonbank payment providers are subjected to appropriate oversight.”

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CFTC Files Complaint Against Voyager’s Former CEO Stephen Ehrlich Alleging Fraud and Registration Failures

By Cliff Histed, Cheryl Isaac, Eden Rohrer, and Josh Durham

On 12 October, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint against Stephen Ehrlich, the former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform, Voyager Digital (Voyager), in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In its 55-page complaint, the CFTC asserts both fraud and registration failures by Ehrlich in connection with the Voyager platform and Voyager’s operation of an unregistered commodity pool.

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CFPB Raises Alarms Without Providing All the Facts

By Judie Rinearson and Jeremy McLaughlin

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent Consumer Alert was certainly well intentioned. Many consumers (including the authors) who hold funds in payment apps (such as Venmo and Paypal) should be made aware that the funds are usually NOT held in an FDIC-insured bank.  But that doesn’t mean the funds are necessarily unprotected.

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CFTC Chair Asserts Jurisdiction Over Fiat-Based Stablecoins

By Cheryl L. Isaac and Maxwell J. Black

Last week, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Chair Rostin Behnam asserted that fiat-based stablecoins (such as USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Binance USD (BUSD), all of which are pegged to an underlying fiat currency) should be considered as commodities, subject to the CFTC’s enforcement jurisdiction. 

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In a Rare Decision On Abandoned Property Law, The US Supreme Court Rules Against Delaware

By Judie Rinearson, Jennifer Crowder, and Jeremy McLaughlin

On February 28, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in the abandoned property lawsuit, Delaware v. Pennsylvania (see https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/145orig_kjfl.pdf)

The question addressed by the Court focused on which state was entitled to collect unclaimed property, which arose from  two financial products sold by banks on behalf of Moneygram: Agent Checks and Teller’s Checks (collectively, the “Checks”).

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AUSTRALIA: Treasury Releases Token Mapping Consultation Paper

By Daniel Knight and Oliver Herrmann

New licensing requirements for crypto service providers are coming, following a series of consultations launched last week by Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. The Government approach focuses on strengthening enforcement, bolstering consumer protection and ultimately establishing a new licensing framework.

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Renewed Era of Crypto Assets Growth in Hong Kong

By Jay Lee

Recently, Hong Kong, through its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, pronounced a Policy Statement on Development of Virtual Assets (“VA”) in Hong Kong (the “Policy Statement”), which sets out the government’s vision and next steps to help grow Hong Kong’s VA sector again.  Hong Kong hopes to develop “a vibrant sector and ecosystem” for VA in the future.  The positions set forth in the Policy Statement are widely welcomed by market participants, who hope it will attract more talented crypto-related businesses back to Hong Kong.

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California Legislators Continue To Assess How To Regulate Digital Assets

By Jeremy McLaughlin and Josh Durham

For the fifth time since June 2022, California Senators have amended their proposed “Digital Financial Assets Law,” signaling a genuine desire to pass the bill as the Senate inches toward workable legislation.

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Federal Reserve Doubles Down on Oversight of Crypto Activities for Banks

By Grant F. Butler, Jeremy McLaughlin, Anthony R.G. Nolan, and Judie Rinearson

The Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) issued Supervision and Regulation Letter 22-6 (“SR 22-6”), providing guidance for FRB-supervised banking organizations (referred to collectively herein as “FRB banks”) seeking to engage in activities related to cryptocurrency and other digital assets.  The letter states that prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities, such FRB banks must ensure that their activities are “legally permissible” and determine whether any regulatory filings are required.  SR 22-6 further states that FRB banks should notify the FRB prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities.  Any FRB bank that is already engaged in crypto-asset-related activities should notify the FRB promptly regarding the engagement in such activities, if it has not already done so.  The FRB also encourages state member banks to contact state regulators before engaging in any crypto-asset-related activity.

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FDIC Warns Banks on Crypto-Related Deposit Insurance Customer Confusion

By Grant F. Butler

On July 29, the FDIC issued an advisory to FDIC-insured financial institutions regarding deposit insurance and dealings with cryptocurrency companies.  The FDIC also issued an accompanying fact sheet for consumers regarding FDIC deposit insurance and cryptocurrency companies. 

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