Commentary Putting aside fraud or criminal activity, banks typically fail in one of two ways: either through insolvency or illiquidity (or both). Insolvency occurs when the bank doesn’t have enough assets to cover its liabilities. Insolvency tends to emerge gradually; for example, when it develops from deteriorating “main street” economic conditions. On the other hand,…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday announced charges against entrepreneur Justin Sun and eight celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan, boxer and social media star Jake Paul, and rapper Akon, for allegedly “illegally touting” crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT). Sun and his companies, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc.,…

Investors have been pulling billions out of Binance’s stablecoin after a securities regulator crackdown. The crypto exchange’s stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD), has witnessed a massive outflow of $6 billion in cash by investors following the subjugation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Paxos, the company that issues the token, reported the Financial Times….

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) and its investment management firm, Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., agreed to pay a combined $5 million to settle charges that the religious institution did not correctly disclose its investment holdings, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday.   According to the SEC, the Mormon…

Commentary Bloomberg, citing private newsletter publisher Birinyi Associates, reports that “announced buybacks more than tripled (in January) to $132 billion from a year ago, reaching the highest total ever to start a year.” For those of us who follow these things, it’s not surprising: the record level of stock buybacks comes amid an earnings season that has been…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled a case with the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, as it cracked down on one of its U.S. operations. Kraken agreed to shut down its cryptocurrency staking service and paid a $30 million fine to settle charges that it failed to register the offer or sale of the program, the SEC…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is going after some of the largest crypto companies, by filing charges against Gemini and Genesis. The federal government’s legal crackdown on crypto is expanding, as the SEC charged some of the biggest names in the industry of operating illegal lending services on Jan. 12. The SEC and the…

Wang Jiali, a Chinese citizen living in the greater Boston metropolitan area, was tried for multi-year stock market manipulation conspiracy by U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on Dec. 1. Wang was accused of leading and participating “in a sophisticated market manipulation scheme aimed at the U.S. securities markets that was perpetrated primarily from China,” which…

A Chinese citizen living in the Boston metropolitan area was sentenced recently in federal court in Massachusetts after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, officials announced. Wang Jiali, 44, of Weymouth, was sentenced to time served (three months in prison) and nine months of home detention, and was ordered to forfeit $7.75…

One month prior to the catastrophic collapse, prominent crypto investors accused FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of “quietly lobbying” regulators. For well over a year, the former billionaire offered various suggestions, in interviews and in policy papers, as to how D.C. officials might police the nascent industry. Legislative influence runs in the family. His father, Joseph…