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.
Read MoreBy 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”).
Read MoreBy Drew Hinkes, Carly Howard, and Judie Rinearson
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement with the digital assets/cryptocurrency exchange Kraken whereby Kraken agreed to cease offering or selling securities through its crypto asset staking services, and agreed to pay a penalty of $30 million (comprising disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties).
Read MoreBy John ReVeal
On February 1, 2023, the CFPB proposed new rules to reduce the late fees that credit card issuers may charge to consumers (the “Proposed Rules”). The CFPB refers to current late fees as “over the top” and “exorbitant.” The CFPB indicates that it believes it has the authority to limit late fees under the CARD Act of 2009, which amended the Truth in Lending Act to require that late fees and other penalty fees be “reasonable and proportional to” the consumer’s violation of the cardholder agreement.
Read MoreOn February 8, 2023, a Manhattan federal jury found Mason Rothschild liable for trademark infringement for his non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) called ‘MetaBirkins’. After only 3 days of deliberation, the 9 person jury sided with Hermѐs International and found Rothschild liable for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and for unlawfully cybersquatting on the domain name MetaBirkins.com.
Read MoreBy Grant F. Butler, Carly E. Howard, Andrew M. Hinkes
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (the “FRB”) issued a policy statement that interprets Section 9(13) of the Federal Reserve Act to limit state member banks to engage as principal in only activities that are (a) permissible for a national bank or (b) explicitly permissible for state banks under federal law. The activity restrictions apply equally to insured and uninsured state member banks supervised directly by the FRB.
Read MoreBy Grant F. Butler, Andrew M. Hinkes, Jeremy McLaughlin, Judie Rinearson
The US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (the “Agencies”) today issued a joint statement reiterating their ongoing concerns with crypto-asset activities entering the banking sector. See: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20230103a1.pdf
Read MoreBy Jeremy M. McLaughlin and Brenden R. Chainey
On November 30, Alaska amended its money transmitter regulations to, among other things, include virtual currency transactions within the definition of money transmission. With this new change (effective January 1, 2023), companies engaged in money transmission involving virtual currency will be required to obtain a money transmission license.
Read MoreBy Andrew M. Hinkes, Clifford C. Histed, Carly E. Howard, Cheryl L. Isaac, Maxwell J. Black
Following the unprecedented Ooki DAO enforcement action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the district court, after entertaining argument by several amici, clarified its position on another novel legal issue in the DeFi space: how to serve process on a DAO. On 12 December 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the CFTC, as part of its efforts to serve the OOKI Dao, to personally serve the former founders of Ooki DAO as individually identifiable token holders.
Read MoreBy 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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