Securities and Exchange Commission

On March 16, 2020, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a news release to address how reporting issuers should handle any delays in their reporting obligations (CSA Release).

Any reporting issuer that anticipates the current COVID-19 outbreak will result in an inability to comply with their obligations under securities legislation (including

On March 7, 2018 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a “Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets”. The statement is a warning to investors, service providers operating platforms through which digital assets are traded, and those providing ancillary services involving the transfer or maintenance of digital assets

With regard to investors, the SEC’s principal suggestion was to conduct diligence to ensure online trading platforms with which investors engage are SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces, whether as national securities exchanges, alternative trading systems, or broker-dealers.Continue Reading Review of SEC’s Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets

On July 25, 2017, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a report of investigation (Report) concluding that the digital currency “tokens” sold by DAO (DAO Tokens) in a 2016 initial coin offering (ICO) are securities for purposes of federal United States securities laws. This conclusion could have far-reaching implications for businesses that have completed or are contemplating an ICO, businesses dealing with tokens or cryptocurrencies, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the still-developing legal landscape relating to ICOs and distributed ledger or “blockchain” technology.

Beginning in 2013, many entities that use blockchain technology as their operational foundation have raised funds through ICOs. While precise data is not available, various sources estimate that since the beginning of 2016, between 84 and 139 ICOs have been completed, raising gross proceeds of between U.S.$281 million and U.S.$1.35 billion.(1) In some cases, ICOs have sold out in a matter of seconds, such as the Basic Attention Token ICO in May 2017 which raised U.S.$35 million in less than 30 seconds.(2)

Pursuant to an ICO, an entity offers digital currency tokens to purchasers, typically in exchange for digital consideration such as Bitcoin or Ether. The rights attaching to these tokens vary greatly, with some resembling “kick-starter” style crowd-funding in that token holders have pre-paid for goods or services offered by the entity and others resembling common shares in a company in that token holders have certain voting rights and certain rights to dividend-like payments from the entity.Continue Reading SEC Concludes that Slock.It’s DAO Digital Currency Tokens are Securities