Enforcement

Australian Court Sentences Financial Adviser to 12 Years Jail

30/08/2024

Ben Jayaweera dishonestly obtained money from clients for investments and then transferred the funds to his own accounts.

Crypto / Digital Assets

US SEC Settles Charges Against Crypto Firm Abra

30/08/2024

The SEC said Abra operated as an unregistered investment company and sold a retail crypto asset lending product that should have been registered.

Fintech / Regtech

ASIC Launches Pilot Digital Portal for AFS Licensing

30/08/2024

The pilot involves a limited number of new AFSL applications before the new digital portal is fully adopted in Q1 2025.

Crypto / Digital Assets

US SEC Planning Legal Action Against NFT Platform OpenSea

29/08/2024

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said the SEC is threatening to sue because “they believe NFTs on our platform are securities”.

Market Infrastructure

EU, China Launch Formal Discussions on Cross-border Data

29/08/2024

The discussions seek to find ways for EU businesses to receive non-personal data from China without breaking the country’s data laws.

AML / KYC

NYDFS Fines Nordea Bank $35mn for AML Failures

29/08/2024

NYDFS said Nordea’s deficient AML programme exposed it to a “high risk of criminal abuse” which was “imported” to New York’s financial system.

Sanctions

US Sanctions Israeli NGO and Civilian Security Officer

29/08/2024

The NGO and security officer were sanctioned for providing support to sanctioned Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Sanctions

Russia Set to Start Testing Crypto in International Payments

29/08/2024

The trials will commence in September. If successful, Russia may allow the Moscow Exchange to set up crypto platforms next year.

Crypto / Digital Assets

CME to Launch Weekly Bitcoin Futures on 30 September

29/08/2024

The new contracts will be cash-settled at 4pm New York time every Friday to help investors mitigate weekend price moves.