On July 13, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announced settlement of enforcement actions aganist a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation (the “SPAC”), entitled Stable Road Acquisition Company, its sponsor, its CEO, its merger target, entitled Momentus Inc. (“Momentus”) and the founder and the former CEO of Momentus. SPACS have become increasingly popular in… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Securities Markets
SEC Rejects NYSE Listing of Bitcoin Trust
On February 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published a notice of its disapproval of the application by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE Arca, Inc. or “NYSE Arca”) to amend its rules to allow it to list and trade shares of the United States Bitcoin and Treasury Investment Trust. Among… Read more »
SEC Issues Concept Release on Private Placements
On June 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a more than 200-page concept release about ways to simplify, improve and harmonize exempt offerings, including private placements, Regulation Crowdfunding and others. The SEC raises numerous issues for comment, such as, for example, whether and how the “accredited investor” definition should be changed,… Read more »
SEC Adopts New Broker-Dealer Rules on Standard of Behavior
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted new rules, including: (i) Regulation Best Interest, raising the requirement for broker-dealers recommending securities to retail clients from determining that the securities are suitable to acting in the best interests of clients, and requiring certain specified disclosure, care in carrying out transactions, written… Read more »
SEC Issues Cease and Desist Against Prosper for Overstating “Annualized Net Returns”
On April 19, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a Cease and Desist Order against Prosper Funding, LLC (“Prosper”), for overstating “Annualized Net Returns” to its investors for nearly two years. Prosper is an on-line lender which raises funds by selling securities linked to the performance of consumer loans and related rights. … Read more »
SEC Cease and Desist Against Alleged Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Exchange
On November 8, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published a press release announcing that it had settled its first cease and desist enforcement action concerning a cryptocurrency trading platform, against Zachary Coburn, the founder of EtherDelta. The SEC has alleged that EtherDelta was an unregistered national securities exchange in that it provided a… Read more »
SEC Acts Against Cryptocurrency Companies
On October 11, 2018, Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the SEC issued a press release announcing that it had obtained an emergency court order to stop an Initial Coin Offering (an “ICO”) by Blockvest LLC and its founder, Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III. Among other things, the company claimed that the ICO had been approved by the… Read more »
Second Treasury Report on Changes to Dodd-Frank
In response to Executive Order 13772 on Core Principles for Regulating the U.S. Financial System, February 3, 2017, the U.S. Treasury (the “Treasury”) issued its second report on October 6, 2017, entitled “A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities: Capital Markets” (the “Report”). after the first report on banks and credit unions was released in… Read more »