On Dec. 12, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought what crypto followers consider one of the most consequential enforcement actions related to the sale of cryptocurrency since the industry’s inception. The lawsuit is against Ripple Labs, Inc., creator of the XRP token—which was at the time one of the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization at $27 billion. By the end of the month in which the complaint was filed, Ripple’s market capitalization dropped to $16 billion.

Continue reading the full GT Alert.

Tags: cryptocurrency, Financial Regulatory Compliance, GT Insight, litigation, SEC, securities, Securities Litigation
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Photo of Paul Ferak Paul Ferak

Paul J. Ferak is Co-Chair of the Financial Services Litigation Practice. Paul focuses his practice on financial services litigation, business litigation, and class action defense. He has served as lead and co-lead counsel in matters across the country. He manages a national team

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Paul J. Ferak is Co-Chair of the Financial Services Litigation Practice. Paul focuses his practice on financial services litigation, business litigation, and class action defense. He has served as lead and co-lead counsel in matters across the country. He manages a national team of attorneys across Greenberg Traurig’s offices defending financial institutions in a variety of consumer and business matters and class actions. He has defended class actions involving mobile banking, electronic payments, credit cards, mortgages, and overdraft practices. He also regularly defends matters alleging violations of various statutes affecting the financial services industry, including credit cards, banking, and mortgage laws; privacy laws; and state consumer fraud laws; as well as matters relating to allegations of breach of contract and lender liability.

Paul is one of the leaders of the firm’s franchise litigation practice. He has represented franchisors in high-stakes litigation involving claims of breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, consumer fraud, tortious interference, and violation of various franchise laws. He has broad experience handling franchise terminations, nonrenewals, and the enforcement of in-term and post-termination covenants. He has handled both class and individual franchise cases.

Paul also has handled a variety of complex business disputes, including working capital, earn-out, and other post-acquisition claims in arbitration and in court.

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Photo of Barbara A. Jones Barbara A. Jones

Barbara A. Jones is Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Global Corporate practice. Barbara serves as Chair of the firm’s interdisciplinary Blockchain & Digital Assets practice. Barbara maintains a diverse corporate and securities law practice

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Barbara A. Jones is Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Global Corporate practice. Barbara serves as Chair of the firm’s interdisciplinary Blockchain & Digital Assets practice. Barbara maintains a diverse corporate and securities law practice across industry groups, emphasizing complex international and domestic transactions, including private and public financings, dual listings, mergers and acquisitions, strategic collaborations and joint ventures, and licensing transactions. She serves as a trusted advisor to public and private company boards of directors on governance matters and complex regulatory reporting and compliance issues. Barbara’s clients include financial institutions, private equity and venture capital groups, and public and private companies in emerging technology, life sciences and biotechnology, defense and security, blockchain and digital assets, telecommunications, information technology, energy (traditional and renewable), mining, media, entertainment and sports. Barbara also represents Olympic and professional athletes and sports-related organizations.

Barbara practiced U.S. law in London from 1990 through 1997 with Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP, and headed the international capital markets practice of Kirkland & Ellis LLP from 1999 to 2003 before relocating to Boston. From 1997 to 1999, she served as Vice-President, Assistant General Counsel and Regional Counsel for capital markets with J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Since returning to the U.S., she has continued to actively represent public and private companies, private equity groups and investment banks in the European, Scandinavian, African and greater Asian markets, including China.

Barbara is a past chair of the ABA’s Subcommittee on International Securities Matters. She is a frequent speaker at conferences relating to cross-border securities matters, strategic alternatives, and digital asset structures. She serves on the Government of Bermuda’s Global FinTech Advisory Board.

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Photo of Robert Long Robert Long

Robert Long previously served as a senior attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Rob defends clients in government investigations and prosecutions,

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Robert Long previously served as a senior attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Rob defends clients in government investigations and prosecutions, spearheads special investigations, and advises financial services firms and market participants on regulatory, compliance, and cryptocurrency matters.

SEC Attorney Experience

Rob spent over ten years at the SEC in various capacities—Trial Attorney, Branch Chief, Senior Counsel, and Staff Attorney. In the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Rob led enforcement litigation in federal courts and administrative proceedings, and directed/conducted complex investigations that resulted in significant enforcement actions, including halting a $160 million Ponzi scheme, charging a Fortune 500 company with FCPA violations, charging a Fortune 1000 company with accounting fraud, and prosecuting multiple insider trading cases and sophisticated market manipulation schemes. Rob also served in the SEC’s Division of Market Regulation (now the Division of Trading and Markets) where he reviewed market rules and analyzed market structure issues. While at the SEC, Rob served in the SEC’s Fort Worth and Washington, DC offices.

FINRA Attorney Experience

As a Senior Regional Counsel in FINRA’s Department of Enforcement in Dallas, Rob investigated violations of FINRA, SEC, and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) rules, and the federal securities laws. Rob successfully handled enforcement cases involving high-frequency trading, complex products, inadequate anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs, due diligence violations, supervision failures, misrepresentations in oil and gas offering materials, unsuitable recommendations, net capital violations, and broker misconduct.

DOJ Attorney Experience

Rob is a former federal prosecutor. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) for the District of Arizona in the Economic Crimes and Public Integrity Unit and as a Special AUSA for the Northern District of Texas, Rob worked closely with various law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Secret Service, and Postal Inspection Service, to prosecute high-profile white collar and public integrity cases. His cases included a 12 defendant mortgage and loan fraud scheme, a “politically sensitive” case of “extreme importance,” and an oil and gas offering fraud scheme that was included in The President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. Notably, Rob was selected by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona to participate in DOJ’s nationwide “Election Day Program” to respond to complaints regarding election fraud and voting rights abuses during the November 7, 2006 general elections, and was a member of the Mortgage Fraud Task Force.

National Practice

Rob draws on his knowledge of the inner workings of regulatory and law enforcement organizations and his wide-ranging multi-agency experience when defending regulatory and white-collar investigations and prosecutions; advising corporations, hedge funds, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other market participants on compliance and regulatory matters; and conducting internal investigations. Rob advises clients on matters involving the SEC, FINRA, DOJ, FBI, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), National Futures Association (NFA), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and other federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB). Rob is regarded as a skilled attorney advising companies (public and private), senior executives, boards, directors, and other individuals in securities enforcement and government investigation matters.

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Photo of William Mack William Mack

William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

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William B. Mack is a co-chair of the Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. He is experienced in advising companies on regulatory and compliance matters relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, the Exchange Act, Anti-Money Laundering laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules.

William’s practice involves all aspects of broker-dealer regulation, including Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) membership, supervision, employment, research, soft dollar arrangements, chaperoning of foreign broker-dealers, social media, use of foreign finders, anti-money laundering rules, alternative trading systems (ATS), exchanges, and market making issues. He also provides regulatory guidance to investment banking clients in connection with securities offerings and related trading issues.

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Photo of David I. Miller David I. Miller

David I. Miller, an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, securities and commodities enforcement, related complex civil litigation, and cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and national security matters. Previously, David served…

David I. Miller, an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, securities and commodities enforcement, related complex civil litigation, and cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and national security matters. Previously, David served for five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.), over half that time as a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. He also served as a terrorism prosecutor with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, as an Assistant General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency, and as a white-collar, securities, and commercial litigation attorney in private practice. Before joining Greenberg Traurig, David was a partner at another global law firm.

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Photo of Daniel J. Wadley Daniel J. Wadley

Daniel Wadley is an experienced trial attorney with over 20 years of litigation experience, including an 11-year tenure at the SEC. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation; securities litigation; SEC regulatory compliance, investigations, and enforcement actions; auditor liability; financial services regulation and

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Daniel Wadley is an experienced trial attorney with over 20 years of litigation experience, including an 11-year tenure at the SEC. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation; securities litigation; SEC regulatory compliance, investigations, and enforcement actions; auditor liability; financial services regulation and compliance; white collar defense; and corporate internal investigations.

Daniel possesses deep institutional knowledge of SEC policies, practices and procedures. Prior to joining GT, Daniel served as the Director of the SEC’s Salt Lake Regional Office where he oversaw and managed all of the office’s investigations, its federal court litigation, and its administrative proceedings. He was a member of the SEC’s FCPA unit and oversaw multiple investigations into FCPA violations. Before taking on the role of Regional Director, Daniel was trial counsel in the Division of Enforcement and also senior counsel to the Directors of Enforcement in Washington, D.C. In his trial counsel role, Daniel represented the SEC in securities enforcement matters filed throughout the United States in both federal district courts and in SEC administrative actions. As senior counsel to the Directors of Enforcement, Daniel helped shape and oversee Agency enforcement priorities and policy, reviewing all recommended actions and settlements pending before the Commission.

Daniel has led litigation teams in federal and state court actions throughout the country. His experience ranges from complex commercial litigation disputes to highly technical SEC regulatory compliance. He has represented the largest accounting firms in the world, as well as individuals, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies, real estate developers, and public and private companies both large and small. He has unique experience in matters involving regulatory filings; digital currencies; financial statement and accounting fraud; corporate mismanagement and internal controls violations; internal investigations; Foreign Corrupt Practice Act violations; insider trading; Ponzi scheme and offering frauds; and broker-dealer and Investment Adviser fraud.

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Photo of Michael M. Besser Michael M. Besser

Michael M. Besser helps companies and individuals respond to SEC enforcement defense cases and other government investigations based on alleged violations of a wide range of civil, criminal, and administrative laws. His practice focuses on representing clients in the health care and financial…

Michael M. Besser helps companies and individuals respond to SEC enforcement defense cases and other government investigations based on alleged violations of a wide range of civil, criminal, and administrative laws. His practice focuses on representing clients in the health care and financial services industries, but Mike has also handled matters involving cryptocurrency, fraud, commercial litigation, and intellectual property rights.

Mike also has an active pro bono practice, which includes assisting with appeals in death penalty cases, representing individuals and small companies in civil suits, and advising non-profits on a variety of matters.

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