On November 18, 2021, the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published Interpretative Letter #1179 to clarify the Digital Asset Letters (defined below) related to the permissibility of national banks and Federal savings associations (collectively, “Banks”) to engage in cryptocurrency, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities.

On November 4, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler delivered remarks at a Securities Enforcement Forum and explained why enforcement is a “fundamental pillar in achieving the SEC’s mission” of investor protection, capital formation, and efficient and orderly markets. Chair Gensler’s remarks came one-week after Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered the keynote address at the ABA’s 36th Annual Institute on White Collar Crime on October 28th, in which she outlined the DOJ’s priorities to prevent corporate crime.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco (“DAG”) delivered the keynote address at the ABA’s 36th Annual Institute on White Collar Crime on October 28th. The speech emphasized priorities that existed prior to the Trump Administration. The DAG explained that corporate crime has taken on a national security dimension, with data analytics playing a larger role.

On July 26, 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to urge the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) to “act with urgency and use its statutory authority to address cryptocurrencies’ risk and ensure the safety and stability of our financial system.”  On November 1, 2021, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, joined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), addressed part of Senator Warren’s concerns by issuing a Report on Stablecoins (“Report”). The Report left many issues unresolved unfortunately.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a proposal by the Nasdaq to diversify corporate boards. The Nasdaq’s proposed rule is aspirational, requiring disclosure of compliance or an explanation of non-compliance. However, the proposal has drawn heated debate in both political and business circles, with some arguing for needed integration of corporate boards, and others arguing that the policy is racially discriminatory.

The White House released a Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption (“Memo”) on June 3, 2021. The Memo sets Administration policy regarding the corrosive impact corruption has on “United States national security,” which, if not addressed, threatens “economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself.” The Memo directs an interagency review by agencies including CIA, DHS, DOJ, DNI, and certain military assets, to develop strategies that, when implemented, will bolster the U.S. Government’s ability to attack corruption, wherever located.