Until yesterday, the enforcement actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the digital token space have primarily focused on the primary issuances of tokens. However, on November 8, 2018, the SEC announced in an order (the “Order”) that it had settled …›
Updates to the Y Combinator SAFE forms Join Morrison & Foerster partner John Rafferty and associate Kate Tyler for a free webinar to discuss the recent changes to the Y Combinator forms of Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and how those changes impact a …›
Two key federal government announcements were made on July 31, 2018 related to fintech issues. First, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a press release announcing a report entitled “Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation.” The Report is the fourth and final in a …›
Originally, there were no foreign ownership limits for a non-bank company to act as an e-Wallet provider, e-Money issuer or fund transfer operator, leading to an influx in applications from foreign owned providers in Indonesia. On 7 May 2018, Bank Indonesia (“BI”) published a new …›
Many in the blockchain and cryptocurrency community were in a celebratory mood on June 14, 2018, following a landmark speech given by William Hinman, Director for the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Director Hinman’s remarks addressed, …›
In this article, Jake M. Robson and Nick Davies highlight how joint ventures or strategic M&A can often be the most effective way to roll out and scale up a fintech product offering in multiple jurisdictions in southeast Asia. The article was first published in …›
An attorney who counsels hundreds of startups every year, Emerging Companies + Venture Capital partner John Rafferty says going into the VC-capital-raising process unprepared is a mistake startups should be sure to avoid. He believes no startup should embark on that process without first …›
With over $8.8B raised via Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) since 2014, and over 1,200 tokens in circulation with a combined market capitalization of over $300B, it’s not surprising that ICOs are an increasingly popular fundraising tool. In this post, we discuss eight key items …›
As part of the EU’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has been working to identify potential competition concerns affecting European e-commerce markets. The Commission suspects that companies have created artificial barriers to trade which impede the development of the e-commerce industry in …›
These days more and more companies are using virtual tokens to compensate and incentivize founders, directors, employees, and other service providers. For the most part, these token-based awards emulate traditional equity-based awards, but they differ from those awards in some important ways, particularly when it …›