August 11, 2017
Initial Coin Offerings: Will the SEC’s Position Slow Them Down?
We’ve posted oodles of memos about the SEC’s Section 21(a) Report on initial coin offerings that John recently blogged about.
A number of articles written since the SEC’s Report indicate that the SEC’s position might not slow down the use of ICOs – instead, they will be offered to accredited and/or off-shore investors. For example, see this Reuters article – and this TechCrunch interview. This trend started even before the SEC’s Report was issued.
In fact, the Reuters article seems to indicate that some ICOs are going forward even with US investors that aren’t accredited. Either these companies are total gunslingers – or they don’t know what a shot across the bow looks like. Or more likely, they don’t believe the SEC’s position is a strong one. Or perhaps the word hasn’t gotten out.
As noted in this Gibson Dunn blog, Delaware Governor Carney recently signed Senate Bill 69 into law – effective August 1st – amending Delaware’s General Corporation Law to allow companies to utilize blockchain technology to maintain and distribute certain corporate records.
ICOs: What Are the Open Issues?
There certainly have been a ton of law firm memos on the SEC’s Section 21(a) Report on initial coin offerings! Some of them spot open issues, including this Cleary Gottlieb blog. Love that the Howey test & the whole “definition of securities” analysis is getting so much play! Securities law geek heaven…
The United States is not the only country grappling with this issue. This Morrison & Foerster memo examines a similar situation in Singapore…
ICOs: What Types Are There?
In this blog, Steve Quinlivan reviews the type of ICOs that have been conducted so far…
Speaking of algorithms, this memo discusses how management & boards should be analyzing algorithmic risks…
– Broc Romanek