Binance $4.3 Billion Plea Deal Payment Approved, Monitor Still TBD

Binance $4.3 Billion Payment in US Plea Deal Approved by Judge

Binance Holdings Ltd. will pay $4.3 billion after a judge approved a plea deal that levies one of the largest criminal penalties in US history against the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange.

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As part of the deal, the company’s compliance must be monitored by an independent firm for as long as five years. The monitor hasn’t yet been apppointed. Bloomberg reported earlier that New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell was poised to take the coveted role.

The SEC’s Plan to Regulate AI on Wall Street Is Already Outdated

Ironically, the proposal’s fatal flaw is that the dramatic rate of change in AI technology already has made it obsolete. Since its publication just a few months ago, we’ve gone from requesting haikus from generative AI chat websites to integrated functions in our everyday applications. Machines now produce initial drafts of prose and code on par with junior analysts, and machine-learning algorithms outperform humans at a growing list of tasks.

Sadly, demonstrated and potential malicious uses of AI (ranging from AI-enhanced hacking attemps to deepfake pornography) are also increasing by the day. The proposal’s concerns over issues such as data ownership and a generic (and duplicative) requirement to ensure an undefined measure of cybersecurity are almost quaint.

New Rules Will Force Buyout Firms to Flag Suspicious Investments

After more than 20 years of debate, private-equity firms are about to be drafted into the fight against dirty money.

The Treasury Department on Feb. 13 proposed extending anti-money-laundering rules to investment advisers including private-equity, venture-capital and hedge-fund managers.

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Under the rules—which can take effect following a 60-day comment period—fund advisers including private-equity managers will have to start programs to prevent money laundering and keep records of customer cash flows. Most significantly, lawyers say, they will have to report suspicious transactions to the government.

Goldman insider-trading conviction shows UK watchdog sharpening its teeth

The Zina case — known as Operation Kempston by the FCA — is the first insider dealing conviction the UK Financial Conduct Authority has secured since 2019, and the agency’s new enforcement heads are hoping it will send a message to the City of London that it is serious about the offence, according to Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.

“There are many successful professionals across the City who are also in positions of trust and this outcome should be a wake-up call to them that trust is there for a reason, it is not there to be abused,” Chambers said in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, her first since taking up the role in April.

What Reddit’s IPO Filing Says About Crypto Regulation

What is surprising are some of the assumptions Reddit makes about the world of crypto in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. First, Reddit announced it has joined a select club of companies that holds both BTC and ETH in its corporate treasury. While a number of native crypto companies hold both leading cryptos in reserve, most are likely to follow MicroStrategy’s “bitcoin-only” approach.

So Reddit joins KPMG Canada and Meitu, so what? Well, the company’s reasoning, outlined in its S-1 filing – a long, thorough and highly-vetted legal document – is telling. Based on public statements from the SEC, Commodities Futures Trading Commission and other “high-ranking” regulatory bodies, it has determined Ethereum’s native token is not “likely” a security.

China securities regulator says penalties will be severe in market crackdown

China’s securities regulator said on Friday it would mete out increasingly tough penalties on fraudulent listings, accounting scams and misappropriation of funds by big shareholders, as part of a crackdown to boost confidence in the stock market.

In its first news conference since the appointment of a new chairman, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also said it would target insider trading and market manipulation more precisely, removing regulatory blind spots.

MicroStrategy’s X Account Hacked, Leads to $440K Crypto Being Stolen: Blockchain Sleuth ZachXBT

MicroStrategy’s X account was hacked on Monday, leading to a phishing message being posted for its followers, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT said.

The X account of Michael Saylor’s crypto investment firm sent out a post announcing the launch of an MSTR token and a link for claiming the fake token.

The phishing attempt has led to over $440,000 worth of crypto being stolen, ZachXBT added. The post has since been deleted.