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Happy holidays to all of our subscribers, clients, and friends. This issue of Venable's Fund Forum includes:
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SEC's Cyber Unit Brings Emergency Action to Halt ICO Fraud The SEC recently filed charges to halt an initial coin offering, which is the first case brought by the SEC's newly formed Cyber Unit. According to the SEC, the defendants violated securities laws through the fraudulent and unregistered offering of securities called "Plexcoin." The SEC successfully obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of the defendants, effectively halting the Plexcoin ICO. |
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SEC's Real-Time Enforcement Calls a Halt to California Company's ICO The SEC recently entered into a settled cease-and-desist order with a California-based company in which the company agreed to halt its ICO. The SEC found that the company's conduct constituted unregistered offers and sales of securities. The action is significant because it highlights the SEC's continued scrutiny of ICOs, as well as the SEC's recent guidance that ICOs may involve the offer and sale of securities. |
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Blockchain, Tokenization, & ICOs: What's the Hype? What exactly are ICOs, and why is everyone talking about them? Are they even legal, and what is the risk? This article explains the ICO phenomenon, the risks involved, and the current legal landscape. |
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Wave of Lawsuits Looms for ICO Version 1.0 – Are You Prepared? ICOs have become a ubiquitous and much-discussed way for companies in the blockchain and digital currency space to fund themselves. To date, by some estimates, more than $3 billion has been raised in ICOs, outpacing all venture capital raised in the United States in 2017. The technology of the blockchain has the power to transform the business landscape for many industries, but the ICO as a funding mechanism raises serious questions under the securities and other laws. |
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Complimentary Webinar December 19, 2017: Addressing and Preventing Inappropriate Behavior in Your Workplace, a Labor & Employment webinar | |
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Regulation, enforcement, and litigation of virtual currencies and ICO's in this issue of Fund Forum
2 min