On May 8, 12 states led by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), opposing its recently proposed rule to give the commission the authority to regulate non-securities, including cryptocurrencies.
While the current rules give the SEC the authority to regulate investment advisors who hold a client’s fund or securities, the proposed rule would expand the SEC’s jurisdiction to any client assets under the investment advisor’s control. In the letter, the state AGs argue that the SEC does not have the legal authority to regulate assets other than securities, raising federalism concerns since the proposed rule may impose federal regulations on state-chartered trust companies and bank entities. The AGs contend that instead of imposing this rule, the SEC should wait for Congress to decide how to best regulate cryptocurrencies.
Read the full article at Troutman Pepper’s website
Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.
