FTX's Former Chief Regulatory Lawyer Now a Cooperating Witness

FTX’s former top lawyer aided U.S. authorities in Bankman-Fried case

FTX’s former top lawyer Daniel Friedberg has cooperated with U.S. prosecutors as they investigate the crypto firm’s collapse, a source familiar with the matter said, adding pressure on founder Sam Bankman-Fried who was arrested on criminal fraud charges last month.

Friedberg gave details about FTX in a Nov. 22 meeting with two dozen investigators, the person said. The meeting, held at the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York’s office included officials from the Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the source said. Emails between attendees scheduling the meeting with those agencies were seen by Reuters.

SEC Charges Creator of CoinDeal Crypto Scheme and Seven Others in Connection with $45 Million Fraud

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Chandran, Davidson, Glaspie, Knott, and Mossel falsely claimed that investors could generate extravagant returns by investing in a blockchain technology called CoinDeal that would be sold for trillions of dollars to a group of prominent and wealthy buyers. From at least January 2019 to 2022, Chandran, Davidson, Glaspie, Knott, and Mossel allegedly disseminated false and misleading statements to investors regarding the purported value of CoinDeal, the parties involved in the supposed sale of CoinDeal, and the use of investment proceeds. According to the complaint, no sale of CoinDeal ever occurred and no distributions were made to CoinDeal investors. The complaint further alleges that the defendants collectively misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds for personal use, and that Chandran used investor funds to purchase items such as cars, real estate, and a boat.

Market-Trading Surge Before US CPI Inflation Report Was ‘Extremely Unusual’

New analysis highlights just how unusual the surge in trading of US Treasuries was last month, just a minute before the release of closely watched inflation data.

The trading volume for 10-year Treasury note futures during the 60 seconds before the Dec. 13 release of November’s consumer price index was more than three times greater than in any minute immediately preceding the release of the prior 24 CPI reports, according to David Wilcox, director of US economic research at Bloomberg Economics. That’s a stretch that goes back to late 2020.

Price movements in those contracts were similarly extreme, more than three times as great as they had been in the corresponding 60 seconds before the last 24 reports.

Liquidating SPAC Hit With Suit Over Proposed Asset DistributionAs I noted in my recent round-up of D&O insurance issues, one of the consequences of the end of the SPAC IPO boom is that many of the SPACs from the IPO classes of 2020 and 2021 have given up trying to find a merger target and instead have opted to liquidate – which raises the question whether liquidation could lead to litigation. On the one hand, where’s the harm, since the investors get their money back. On the other hand, in our litigious society, litigation often follows after disappointed expectations. A December 30, 2022, lawsuit brought by SPAC investors against the SPAC, its sponsors, and its directors and officers, may provide an example of how litigation can arise in the wake of a SPAC liquidation.

FTX prompts surge in influencer, citizen journalism on Twitter, Substack

The story of how Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of the crypto exchange FTX, misused billions of dollars while charming the media and becoming a darling of Washington, hasn’t upended just the crypto ecosystem. It has also served as a watershed moment for the business-news landscape, making a group of internet influencers go-to sources for people hungering for news of FTX and SBF, as Bankman-Fried is known.

Coinbase Reaches $100 Million Settlement With New York Regulators

Coinbase, a publicly traded cryptocurrency trading exchange based in the United States, agreed to pay a $50 million fine after financial regulators found that it let customers open accounts without conducting sufficient background checks, in violation of anti-money-laundering laws.

The settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services, announced Wednesday, will also require Coinbase to invest $50 million to bolster its compliance program, which is supposed to prevent drug traffickers, sellers of child pornography and other potential lawbreakers from opening accounts with the exchange.

The Biggest Criminal and Civil Trials Coming to London in 2023

Insider Dealing Trial of Ex-Goldman Analyst — November 2023

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst and his brother, an ex-lawyer at top London law firm Clifford Chance, stand accused of insider trading. Mohammed Zina and Suhail Zina, were charged over trading in six stocks and prosecutors allege that the insider trades came from within Goldman Sachs. The brothers have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Mohammed worked as an analyst at the bank’s unit that checks for business conflicts, and left Goldman Sachs in 2018. Suhail worked as a junior solicitor and left the firm the same year.