OFAC should clarify on what basis it determines when to permit a company to make ransom payments to save their businesses and when to deny other companies that ability.

The SEC has warned investors of the risks of investments in China several times. See, e.g., ; ; ; . Will a regulatory or enforcement action follow?

Given the very large number of representatives who did business in Massachusetts without registering and the very small amount of improper commissions that appears to have been collected, it seems that the firm was failing to prevent sporadic violations of the registration requirement, as opposed to ignoring substantial violations. It is also notable that Massachusetts criticized the firm for failing to register in Massachusetts the supervisors of all agents who were registered in the state…

Taking the facts that the SEC reported as correct and acknowledging that the company's conduct was materially dishonest, this still seems a bit of a stretch as a violation of the securities laws. The injured parties were the persons who used the free portion of the service; they were not purchasers of securities. Presumably, the SEC's theory of jurisdiction is based on the fact that the persons who actually purchased the company's data used that data to trade in securities. But those persons…