Perspectives and insights from Mayer Brown lawyers and other thought leaders that touch on digital assets, decentralized finance, cryptocurrencies and related fields.
For the First Time, the US SEC Sanctions an NFT Issuer for Selling Unregistered Securities in SEC v. Impact Theory
In a published settlement of charges on August 28, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated that non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) issued by Impact Theory, LLC were “securities” under US federal securities law and the sale of those NFTs without registration or reliance on an exemption from the registration requirements violated federal securities law. In this Legal Update, we provide a snapshot of the settlement and the dissent by two SEC commissioners, and distill some key takeaways for the NFT market.
New Restrictions on the Marketing of Cryptoassets in the UK
On October 8, 2023, the UK government’s new restrictions on the marketing of certain cryptoassets will take effect. The definition of investment activity will be expanded to include dealing in, managing, arranging and advising on certain qualifying cryptoassets. This will bring many cryptoassets within the scope of the financial promotion regime for the first time.
English Court Refuses to Enforce Arbitral Award on Public Policy Grounds Linked to English Consumer Protection
Payward Inc v. Chechetkin is a rare example of the English courts refusing to enforce a foreign award on public policy grounds and may become a leading case on the interaction between consumer protection mechanisms and standard form dispute resolution provisions. The decision may have particularly significant ramifications for international business to consumer ("B2C") companies.
Ripple Is Not a Tidal Wave – the SEC’s Case Against Terraform Labs Provides a Quick Counterpoint to the Recent Ripple Ruling
In SEC v. Terraform Labs, Judge Jed Rakoff ruled in favor of the SEC on a motion to dismiss, finding the SEC’s amended complaint adequately pled that the crypto assets sold by Terraform Labs qualify as “investment contracts” under the Howey precedent. Most noteworthy in this decision is the court’s explicit rejection of an approach and analysis of digital assets issued in SEC v. Ripple just a few weeks prior.
