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NEWSLETTER: Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins have been constants on the US political agenda for several years, with sporadic bipartisan interest but no major legislation being agreed. The GENIUS Act, however, might just shake things up.
Having achieved a significant milestone in the U.S. Senate, the act might bring about a tangible change in crypto innovation, making compliance a daily imperative. The SEC has also announced an agenda and panelist roundup for its Crypto Task Force’s upcoming June 9 roundtable “DeFi and the American Spirit”.
Meanwhile, FinCEN has finalized its new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, aimed at mitigating illicit finance risks within the investment adviser sector. With the rules set to take effect on January 1, 2026, RIAs and ERAs must use the next few months to dust off their frameworks and make sure they’re compliant.
The SEC continues to fight fraud by handing out fines to bad actors. Two recent examples include charging a former real estate investment CEO with operating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like scheme, and Unicoin’s top executives for false and misleading statements to thousands of their investors. This further highlight’s the Commission’s increased scrutiny of financial crime activity within financial services investments. Keeping your compliance teams and systems as airtight and transparent as possible will be key to avoiding regulatory repercussions.
The Commission has also recently named ex-lawyer Katherine Reilly as its new acting Inspector General. She is set to replace Deborah Jeffrey to continue the office’s goal of “championing transparency and rooting out redundancy” to ensure the agency runs “as efficiently and effectively as possible”.
If you have any questions about or require guidance on any of the topics mentioned above, let us know.
Rebecca Thorpe, Global Head of Regulatory Consulting
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