United States

Crypto / Digital Assets

New Bill Unveiled to Strengthen Crypto Regulation in New York

By Manesh Samtani | 08/05/2023

The CRPTO Act would ban the use of the term “stablecoin”  except for digital assets backed 1:1 with the safest of reserve assets. Crypto platforms would have to reimburse fraud losses.

Capital / Liquidity

US SEC Probing Insider Trading by First Republic Execs – Report

By Editors | 07/05/2023

The SEC is looking into whether executives of First Republic improperly traded on inside information before the government seized the bank and sold it to JPMorgan.

Big Picture

Thousands of US Banks are “Underwater” and “Potentially Insolvent”

By Manesh Samtani | 07/05/2023

Report by Stanford Professor Amit Seru and a group of banking experts presents an analysis of US banks’ asset exposure to interest rate hikes and the implications for financial stability.

Enforcement

NYDFS Fines BitFlyer for Deficient Cybersecurity Programme

By Editors | 07/05/2023

BitFlyer USA did not perform risk assessments, implement a written cybersecurity policy, or conduct annual reviews. The firm said it has completed over 90% of its planned remediation work.

Enforcement

Ex-OpenSea Manager Convicted for NFT Insider Trading Scheme

By Editors | 05/05/2023

Nathaniel Chastain chose which NFTs to feature on OpenSea’s home page and then covertly traded those NFTs, altogether making about $57,000 in profits.

Enforcement

Goldman Under Probe for Possible Role in SVB Collapse

By Editors | 05/05/2023

Goldman Sachs said it is cooperating with governmental bodies in connection with their investigations and inquiries into SVB.

Enforcement

CFTC Suspends Longest Serving Inspector General for Misconduct

By Editors | 05/05/2023

An oversight body for inspectors general found that Roy Lavik wasted government funds, revealed the identities of whistleblowers, and disparaged employees.

Capital / Liquidity

PacWest Bancorp Exploring Potential Capital Raise or Sale – Reports

By Manesh Samtani | 04/05/2023

There is concern that PacWest might be the next bank to fail, though it is smaller than SVB and First Republic and has 75 percent of its deposits insured.

Enforcement

Philippine SEC to Raise Penalties for Late Filing of Reports

By Sanday Chongo Kabange | 03/05/2023

In addition to higher monetary fines, the SEC may label a company ‘delinquent’ or revoke its registration in case of repeated failures.