The SEC’s recent rejection of a spot bitcoin ETF based on its failure to meet investor protection obligations under Federal securities laws does not bode well for other similar ETFs seeking approval. The VanEck spot ETF would have traded within an unregulated cryptocurrency market that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has made clear lacks the same…
FrontLine Compliance Founder and President Amy Lynch was interviewed by BARRON’S for its recent cover story and related podcast on the state of the cryptocurrency market. Ms. Lynch suggests that crypto assets for now do not seem to present the type of systemic risk that caused prior market crashes and blind-sided banks and investment firms….
When the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (IM) recently issued an Information Update on the new Marketing Rule, FrontLine Compliance was among the first to notify the industry of its significance via our ComplianceAlert. Importantly, numerous SEC no-action letters were withdrawn by the SEC and no longer valid for reliance by investment advisers for marketing…
The Division of Examinations (the “Division”) conducted exams of 130 retail advisers where the Staff reviewed fee and expense billing practices. Its latest Risk Alert (the “Alert”) details the results of these exams and is structured similarly to others released in 2021, whereby the Staff describes both deficiencies found as well as best practices. Of…
For the most part, firm personal trading policies for employees investing in crypto-related investments appear to be following standard policies on requiring disclosure of transactions that are considered “reportable securities.” But in the age of crypto and coin offerings, firms are having to deal with murky definitions when it comes to what employees need to…