Category: Futures and Derivatives

On Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Gurbir Grewal will be the Director of the Division of Enforcement, effective July 26, 2021.  Grewal has been the Attorney General of New Jersey since 2018.

Grewal’s appointment follows the previous appointment and abrupt resignation of Alex Oh for the same role.  In contrast to Oh, Grewal has spent most of his career in government.  Prior to his current role, Grewal was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York and the District of New Jersey.  From 2014 to 2016, Grewal led the Economic Crimes Unit for the District of New Jersey.

Continue reading “Chair Gensler Appoints NJ AG SEC Enforcement Director”

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted the IRS leave to serve the “John Doe summons”. The summons requires the administrators of a cryptocurrency exchange called Poloniex to release documents and information on U.S. taxpayers who conducted transactions in cryptocurrency totaling over $20,000 in any calendar year from 2016 through 2020. Individual account-holders may face enforcement activity in the future.

Continue reading “IRS Is Cleared to Serve John Doe Summons on Cryptocurrency Exchange”

Perhaps it is in the spirit of March Madness and bracketology, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) recently acknowledged consideration of a proposal by a sports gambling company to allow state-licensed sportsbooks and certain NFL-stadium owners and vendors to trade future contracts tied to NFL game outcomes.

The proposal, submitted by Eris Exchange, LLC (ErisX), seeks to list three types of NFL futures contracts on ErisX’s Regulated Sports Book Index Exchange (RSBIX). The contracts under review are tied to three common NFL game bets: money lines, point spreads, and total points scored in an individual game (over/unders). ErisX’s proposal would limit exchange participants to “eligible contract participants” and would allow only licensed sportsbooks, stadium owners and vendors, and qualified market makers to trade on the exchange—i.e., not individual investors or other investment funds with no connection to NFL stadium operations.

Continue reading “A Proposal to the CFTC for a New Way for “Bets” to Be Hedged”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released its highly anticipated Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework (the “Framework”).  The Framework was developed as part of the Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force, and contains three sections:  (1) Threat Overview; (2) Law and Regulations; and (3) Ongoing Challenges and Future Strategies.

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On December 1, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Division of Enforcement released its Annual Report, which details a “record-breaking” fiscal year 2020 (“FY 2020”), despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notably, the CFTC filed a historic 113 enforcement actions—up from 69 filed in FY 2019, 83 filed in FY 2018, and an increase over the previous high of 102 filed in FY 2012. The chart below shows the breakdown of enforcement actions by category, and Appendix B of the Annual Report provides individual case citations.

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Weeks after touting its record-breaking enforcement haul, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Enforcement Division issued a memorandum providing guidance for enforcement staff to use when recommending the recognition of cooperation, self-reporting and remediation during the enforcement process. The historic enforcement performance demonstrated that the CFTC can wield a large stick, but the latest guidance is aimed at recognizing efforts in resolving violations.

Continue reading “After a Year of Record-Breaking Enforcement Fines, the CFTC Provides Guidance on the Recognition of Cooperation”