In the final quarter of 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) continued to bring enforcement actions that reinforce the SEC’s stated commitment to scrutinizing compliance and digital assets. Specifically, the SEC has made a point of investigating and taking action against gatekeepers (in compliance, accounting or legal) who failed to uphold their obligations to their clients and taking action where cryptocurrencies or other digital assets purportedly meet the definition of a “security” but have not been registered with the SEC. In this edition of Schulte Roth & Zabel’s Securities Enforcement Quarterly, the firm's attorneys discuss in depth recent enforcement activity in the digital asset arena and highlight noteworthy actions against advisers, broker-dealers and others.
The SEC has committed to pushing investigation and enforcement boundaries and so far it has shown no signs of backing down.