These lending programs are clearly "securities" under Reves (see  and .) While there are numerous hard cases as to what constitutes securities, the lending programs are not hard cases.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero is on the right track, but implementing her recommendations requires a set of practical rules and an enforcement authority. It is not sufficient to say that there must be better disclosure if the CFTC has no rules or authority, or if the SEC - which purports to have rules and authority - has rules that are not workable.

Any suggestion that there be an SRO for crypto-assets is well-intended, but premature. An SRO is only workable if its members are…

Although the CFPB's statement as to "digital dark patterns" is not directly applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisers, it is consistent with the SEC's preliminary efforts to engage in rulemaking with respect to "digital engagement practices" (also referred to as "gamification") (see ").

When a regulated firm is the subject of an inquiry from a governmental entity that is not the firm's direct regulator, the regulated firm can often ignore the inquiry, on the view that there is no effective authority behind it. That may not be a workable strategy here. The allegations of the state AGs raise the potential for claims under state securities law, antidiscrimination laws, and, with respect to advice given to state pension plans, under any fiduciary laws that may resemble ERISA,…