SEC

The SEC and other regulatory agencies have raised the environmental, social and governance ante. Financial institutions will need to find a way to chip in before the stakes are raised even higher.  

The company behind the digital coin Hydro and a crypto market-making firm tried to artificially inflate the token's price after it was offered through a so-called airdrop, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The saga over cryptocurrency regulation took another twist courtesy of a comment buried in a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that hints at a case for U.S. jurisdiction over the ethereum blockchain.

The cryptocurrency firm Ripple Labs sought to defeat a Securities and Exchange Commission suit by claiming that its XRP token isn't a security subject to the regulator's authority.

"The SEC may not want to answer to Congress on its climate disclosure rule, but ultimately, the SEC will have to answer to the courts — which should make it nervous," the Senate Banking Committee's Pat Toomey warned the agency's chairman, Gary Gensler.

The agency's invitations to "Come in and talk" often precede investigations and subpoenas.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda has agreed to pay $22.9 million to regulators to settle claims it failed to report loans totaling $99 million made to founder Ron Paul, who will pay more than $500,000 in fines in addition to being barred from the industry.

Gary Gensler has a message for people pouring money into crypto on promises of high returns: beware.

To create sensible rules around decentralized finance, regulators have to have an open discussion with businesses in the industry. To do that, they must create a path for collaboration.

The U.S. is forcing Wall Street banks to embark on a systematic search through more than 100 personal mobile phones carried by top traders and dealmakers in the largest-ever probe into clandestine messaging on platforms such as WhatsApp.

The focus of the expanded expanded enforcement group will include virtual-currency offerings, decentralized finance and trading platforms, as well as stablecoins, according to the regulator.

Citigroup joined the list of banks being investigated over employee communications using unauthorized messaging services.

Goldman Sachs Group became the latest bank to be investigated over employee communications over unapproved messaging services.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler doubled down on his calls for more oversight of cryptocurrency trading platforms on Wednesday, offering new insight into his priorities as he seeks to crack down on the digital coin industry. 

The disclosure was made as part of a filing about Circle’s planned merger with the special purpose acquisition company, Concord Acquisition Corp.

Regulators and the Biden administration are considering how to respond to the sharp growth in digital assets pegged to fiat currency. Their options include establishing rules like those for bank deposits and having the Federal Reserve issue a digital dollar that competes with private-sector stablecoins.

The inquiry involves employees' "business communications sent over electronic messaging channels that have not been approved by the firm,” JPMorgan Chase says.

The agency is investigating whether the swipe fees paid to the banks that issue PayPal’s debit cards are consistent with Federal Reserve guidelines, PayPal said in a quarterly regulatory filing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission accuses the company of improperly profiting from sales of the digital token XRP. Here’s how Ripple’s high-priced legal team is trying to poke holes in the government's case.

All public companies could be on the hook for detailing climate-related risks — including those of clients. The data-gathering burden might be especially heavy for banks, industry officials say, because they lend to and invest in so many companies across so many industries.