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A.J. Dhaliwal

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A.J. is a partner in the Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has issued a no-action letter to the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) in connection with the registered clearing agency’s pilot blockchain-based securities tokenization program. A no-action letter is a document issued by the SEC in response to a request from an individual or entity seeking confirmation that their planned activities do not constitute a violation of federal securities laws. The DTC’s program enables the tokenization of entitlements to certain eligible securities held by investors through the DTC. Investors opting into the program are able to utilize pre-approved blockchains and registered wallets to hold their tokenized securities entitlements and transfer them among other program participants. The plan also permits “de-tokenization” whereby the tokenized entitlement is reverted to a standard book entry with the DTC. The SEC’s blessing for the plan represents a significant step towards moving markets “on-chain.”Continue Reading SEC No-Action Letter Paves Way for Tokenization of Securities

On December 12, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced conditional approval for five national trust bank charter applications from five major crypto companies. These conditional approvals mark a notable development in the federal supervision of crypto-native business models, underscoring the OCC’s continued caution in extending the national banking framework to firms engaged in digital asset custody and stablecoin-related activities.Continue Reading OCC Conditionally Approves Digital Asset Trust Bank Charters, Signaling Cautious Expansion of Federal Oversight

Following President Trump’s March 6 Executive Order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, federal agencies and market participants may begin to grapple with the operational and compliance implications of the federal government’s proposed foray into crypto ownership and stewardship. While many of the program’s details remain under development, the initiative raises questions related to governance, custody, disclosure, and alignment with existing financial and national security laws.Continue Reading Federal Crypto Ownership: Compliance Implications of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile

On May 1, NYDFS settled with a cryptocurrency trading platform over the company’s cybersecurity deficiencies, resulting in a consent order and $1.2 million fine for the crypto company. NYDFS alleged “multiple deficiencies in the Company’s cybersecurity program” discovered during NYDFS examinations in 2018 and 2020. The examinations prompted an investigation, ultimately leading to the consent order and the fine.Continue Reading New York Settles with Crypto Company, Proposes Crypto Legislation

In an apparent follow up to President Biden’s March Executive Order on Digital Assets (which we previously discussed here), this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a similar executive order aiming to foster responsible innovation, bolster California’s innovation economy, and strengthen consumer protection through creating a transparent regulatory and business environment for Web3 companies.  Newsom’s executive order credits Biden’s executive order as paving the way for the assessment of key issues raised by crypto-assets and sets California on a path to harmonize its nascent crypto regulatory framework with forthcoming federal rules and guidelines and, hopefully, create regulatory clarity for businesses and consumers.
Continue Reading Governor Newsom Signs Blockchain Executive Order

In a novel transaction for the blockchain and mortgage industries, a blockchain-focused financial services company and an investment firm announced the completion of a transaction involving the origination of digital mortgage loans and transfer of ownership via blockchain technology. The eNote digital mortgage assets were originated on the Provence Blockchain and registered on the financial services company’s Digital Asset Registration Technologies (DART) platform. DART monitors blockchain-based asset transfers and is intended to enable an efficient alternative to the existing loan tracking database systems.
Continue Reading Recent Transaction Transfers Ownership of Digital Mortgage Loans via Blockchain

On February 8, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled, “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets” to consider legislative recommendations from the President’s Working Group (PWG) report on stablecoins (we previously discussed the report in an earlier Consumer Finance & FinTech Blog post here).   
Continue Reading House Financial Services Committee Focuses on PWG Stablecoin Report