SEC Commissioner Peirce: "Grave Concerns" SEC Trying to Do Too Much at Once

SEC’s Peirce: Gensler Is Trying To Do Too Much Too FastIn terms of recent enforcement actions from the SEC, which many industry advocates argue has slowed progress by targeting companies that are unable to go to court and set a precedent, Peirce said the agency may be putting the cart before the horse.

“There is a more efficient way to do this,” she added. “If we think that there’s a problem in the industry, we need to deal with it through regulation, and then enforcement should follow the regulation.”

Before issuing an enforcement action or agreeing to a settlement, regulators might be better off opening the discussion up to public forums to create policy, Peirce said.

“Repeatedly, I have dissented from settlements in this space because I think what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to set the law through these settlements,” the SEC commissioner added. “Why not — for each of these major topics, where we see there to be some sort of securities angle — why not spell that out in some sort of preliminary written documents?”

Belgium Crypto Ads to Include Warning: “The Only Guarantee in Crypto is Risk” 

Belgium’s financial regulator is requiring virtual currency firms to add a punchy disclaimer to their advertisements: “The only guarantee in crypto is risk.”  The move is part of a crackdown by the Financial Services and Markets Authority, which was given the power to regulate the industry’s marketing. Firms will also be required to lay out risks and conditions, and will be forbidden to promise future returns.

White House Takes Aim at Crypto in Scathing Economic Report

The report looked at a number of claims and stated goals from the crypto industry, ranging from cryptocurrencies’ role as investment vehicles and payment tools to its potential use in payment infrastructure, saying that “many of them do not have a fundamental value” and noting other issues with the sector.

“It has been argued that crypto assets may provide other benefits, such as improving payment systems, increasing financial inclusion, and creating mechanisms for the distribution of intellectual property and financial value that bypass intermediaries that extract value from both the provider and recipient. Looking under the hood at these arguments, however, shows a more complicated picture. So far, crypto assets have brought none of these benefits,” the report said.

Various disasters in the crypto sector, including last year’s TerraUSD collapse, BitConnect and FTX, were cited as examples of how everyday Americans were harmed.

Inflation Hits Organic Food Company’s Quarterly Results, Draws Securities Suit

At the beginning of the year, when I surveyed the D&O claims landscape and predicted the factors that I thought might drive D&O claims volume in 2023, one set of factors I projected might make significant contributions to the number of claims to be filed during the year were the number of macroeconomic challenges – for example, rising interest rates, economic inflation, labor supply disruption, and the war in Ukraine. The recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the ensuing securities litigation provides one illustration of how these macro factors can translate into D&O claims.

Now, in the latest illustration of these forces at work, investors have filed a securities lawsuit against the organic foods company United Natural Foods, following the company’s recent disappointing earnings announcement in which the company disclosed a decline in profitability, despite increasing sales, due to inflationary pressures. A copy of the March 20, 2023, lawsuit against United Natural Foods can be found here.

Relative of wealthy US retail family gets prison for insider trading

A member of a wealthy family that has held investments and leadership roles in retailers like DSW owner Designer Brands Inc (DBI.N) and American Eagle Outfitters Inc was sentenced on Tuesday to a year in prison for insider trading.

Prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston to sentence David Schottenstein to nearly four years in prison, saying he and two friends made $4.5 million trading on inside information he gleaned from members of his family.

Schottenstein originally agreed to cooperate and testify against those friends, Kris Bortnovsky and Ryan Shapiro. But he backed out of his cooperation deal in November, leading prosecutors to drop the charges against them.

SPACs Jump on Artificial Intelligence Bandwagon as Time Runs Out

Blank-check companies are hoping the market craze surrounding artificial intelligence can revive the fortunes of an industry plagued by fleeing investors.

Three special-purpose acquisition companies have lined up deals with firms touting their AI credentials in the past three weeks, while the sponsor of a new SPAC has said it plans to look to merge with a company that preferably uses AI algorithms in the transportation field.

Miami, New York Crypto CityCoins Trading Suspended by OKcoin ExchangeA crypto exchange has suspended trading of cryptocurrencies dedicated to New York City and Miami, citing limited liquidity for the tokens.

Both coins earlier received support from the cities’ respective mayors, New York City’s Eric Adams and Miami’s Francis Suarez, who touted the digital assets as benefiting the community. Like any other proof-of-work token, users could mine the coins, but MIA and NYC came with a twist: 30% of the money spent on mining would be donated to the city, according to Okcoin.

NFTs Used to Serve Complaint

According to a recent report, a Florida federal judge entered a default judgment in favor of a party who served “complaints to more than a dozen unidentified suspects through a non-fungible token.” According to the report, it is “possible to track the NFT when opened.” An attorney for the plaintiff in the case said allowing service through NFTs “is going to pave the way” to start suing fraudsters. The order from the Florida federal judge is reportedly the first of its kind granting a default judgment after service of a complaint through an NFT.