MVA White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog

A Bloomberg article last week suggests potentially more bad news is on the way for Coinbase Global Inc. (“Coinbase”). Coinbase is reportedly facing an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) into whether it let customers trade digital assets that the SEC believes should have been registered as securities. Rumors of investigations by the SEC do not necessarily suggest problems for the company at the center of those rumors, but the timing of a recent SEC complaint (SEC v. Wahi) may explain why this report had such a negative effect on Coinbase’s ...

On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations released its exam priorities for fiscal year 2022 (the “2022 Priorities”). As in years past, these exam priorities naturally follow from SEC rulemakings, statements, risk alerts and other guidance issued in the past year, and reflect practices or topics that may pose higher risk for referral to the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

The 2022 Priorities include broader thematic “Significant Focus Areas,” which may be applicable to both broker-dealers and registered ...

Late last year, news services reported on the results of the efforts of a black couple living in Northern California to challenge what they believed was an initial, discriminatory low-ball appraisal of their home. To test their theory, the couple “whitewashed” their home by removing artwork and replacing family photos with those of a white neighbor, who acted as the homeowner during a second appraisal from another company. The couple filed a discrimination lawsuit against the initial appraiser after the second appraisal came in almost half a million dollars higher. Recent ...