The comments are from a speech given on the 22nd by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. (transcript here: https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/speech-clayton-012218) I didn't see any mention of it (possibly missed it). Potential SEC investigations into the Long Island Iced Tea Block Chains and Kodak's of the market incoming?
"First, and most disturbing to me, there are ICOs where the lawyers involved appear to be, on the one hand, assisting promoters in structuring offerings of products that have many of the key features of a securities offering, but call it an "ICO," which sounds pretty close to an "IPO." On the other hand, those lawyers claim the products are not securities, and the promoters proceed without compliance with the securities laws, which deprives investors of the substantive and procedural investor protection requirements of our securities laws."
"...I have instructed the SEC staff to be on high alert for approaches to ICOs that may be contrary to the spirit of our securities laws and the professional obligations of the U.S. securities bar."
"The SEC is looking closely at the disclosures of public companies that shift their business models to capitalize on the perceived promise of distributed ledger technology and whether the disclosures comply with the securities laws, particularly in the case of an offering."
Submitted January 25, 2018 at 02:06PM by TheTahoe http://ift.tt/2DBAdXs
