Month: May 2022
FINRA recently released a statement highlighting its concerns about the current expungement process, with reforms expected to come this year. FINRA addressed its concerns regarding expungement reform in 2020 after submitting a plan to create a roster of specially trained arbitrators; however, FINRA withdrew this request last year. According to FINRA, the new proposal will be…
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A New York man was charged with fraud for his role in scamming investors out of $59 million in a crypto investment scheme. The defendant, Eddy Alexandre used the investors’ money to contribute to his own bank account, and spent their money on personal items such as a $175,000 luxury vehicle. Christopher Warren, Managing Partner…
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StraightPath Venture Partners has had its assets frozen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to securities violations, including allegedly selling pre-initial public offering (IPO) shares they did not own, pocketing undisclosed fees, and commingling investor funds, resulting in Ponzi scheme-like payments. The SEC charged the defendants with violating antifraud and provisions of the federal securities…
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Over the last few weeks, stablecoins Terra USD and its sister currency, Luna, have dropped by over 80 percent, leaving investors worried and panicked, especially after crypto surged during the pandemic. Terra USD is an algorithmically designed stablecoin, which means that it coordinates with the US dollar. The USD is experiencing relatively high inflationary pressure…
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently announced fraud charges against MCC International Corp. and its founders in connection with the unregistered offerings and fraudulent sales of investment plans to thousands of investors. The defendants allegedly generated $8.1 million from the sale of these investment plans and $3.2 million in initiation fees. The SEC…
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FINRA has recently fined two registered funding portals, Wefunder and StartEngine, a combined $1.75 million for failing to comply with securities laws and regulations designed to protect crowdfunding investors. Wefunder raised approximately $20 million more than they were permitted under FINRA’s current crowdfunding regulations. They also failed to promptly direct the transmission of funds to…
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The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Blender.io, a virtual currency mixer that is used in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to facilitate North Korea’s cyber activities and to engage in money laundering of stolen virtual currency. This sanction was initiated after Lazarus Group, a DPRK cyber…
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The CIA’s venture capital company, In-Q-tel, has discretely launched a SPAC that aims to fuel significant returns for former CIA officers. This news is deemed important as the SEC has recently been cracking down on SPACs and initiating stricter regulations surrounding them. This SPAC, titled Chain Bridge 1, is seeking to acquire a defense contractor…
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As the crypto financial market evolves and develops, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is trying to catch up. Yesterday, the SEC announced 20 new positions designated to protect crypto investors from cyber-related threats and is expected to expand to more than 50 as the cryptocurrency market outperforms broad equity indices. As the SEC amps…
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