The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports that it has charged Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd., both commonly known as the crypto exchange Kraken, with “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program, whereby investors transfer crypto assets to Kraken for staking in exchange for advertised… Read More >>
SEC & CFTC Penalize Options Clearing Corp. for $22M
The Options Clearing Corp. (OCC), regarded as the largest equity derivatives clearing organization in the world, has announced settlements with the SEC and CFTC that add up to $22 million and are based on a self-reported case of shortcomings in meeting internal efforts to lower key operational risks. The cases revolve around the implementation of… Read More >>
UBS Securities Hit With Another FINRA Fine
UBS Securities, a subsidiary of the world’s largest private bank, is in trouble with FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory organization (SRO). It’s not the first time. From the regulatory authority’s customary Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), FINRA alleges: “From September 2015 through January 2019, UBS-S published inaccurate monthly statistics regarding execution of covered… Read More >>
DTCC Guide Demystifies T+1 Testing
In the U.S., there have been many serious discussions and efforts to move the securities industry from the trading day plus two (T+2) settlement cycle to T+1. In addition, the regulators, standards groups, and industry associations are mulling the changes that must be made to facilitate the shift to T+1. But, at some point, the… Read More >>
Bloomberg Pays $5M Penalty to Resolve BVAL Case
Bloomberg Finance L.P. is paying a $5 million penalty to the SEC to settle charges that its daily price valuation service BVAL misled some fixed income subscribers when the market data giant allegedly failed to let them know that some of the valuations were based on a single data input rather than a full implementation… Read More >>
Did Genesis Global Capital & Gemini Trust Break the Law?
Crypto has faced some tough times lately, though the kids who are among its most fervent boosters keep insisting that the value of their shiny coins will rebound in 2023. Like, for sure. Faster than you can say Winklevoss! Good times for us and the brothers must be right around the corner, right? Well, it… Read More >>
800 BitConnect Victims to Share $17M in Restitution
About 800 victims of the BitConnect cryptocurrency investment scheme will be getting some of their money back, which may serve as a ray of hope for other crypto-fraud victims left in the cold of a crypto winter full of scandal. But it will be a thin ray as the BitConnect Ponzi scheme claimed 4,154 victims… Read More >>
FIA Wants FCMs Exempt from Repo Clearing Proposal
Walt L. Lukken, president and CEO, of the Futures Industry Association (FIA) has sent a letter to the SEC asking the regulator to exempt futures commission merchants (FCMs) from complying with proposed rules that would set new standards for covered clearing agencies for U.S. Treasury securities. “The SEC has proposed rules that would significantly expand… Read More >>
Coinbase Pays $50M Penalty for Alleged Compliance Failures
Another day, another crypto failure? Seems that way, doesn’t it? Consider Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase, Inc. has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty and shell out another $50 million to bulk up its compliance program. The alleged compliance failures at Coinbase Inc. were wide-ranging and longstanding — so says the New York Department… Read More >>
SEC Denies FTX Meeting Spurred General Counsel’s Exit
The SEC is denying media reports that Dan Berkovitz, general counsel for the regulator, is leaving his post as a result of a meeting he had with controversial crypto exchange FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fried (SBF) when Berkovitz was a CFTC commissioner. Late last month, as the FTX scandal grew, Bankman-Fried’s past donations to politicians and… Read More >>
