These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Financial Institutions Are Playing Catch-Up in AML and Sanctions Compliance by Michael Volkov
A recent survey of financial institutions conducted by Alix Partners on AML and Sanctions compliance (here) contains informative results that support some of my general concerns about ethics and compliance programs – board members do not receive adequate training and compliance officers are continuing to struggle with lack of adequate resources. [More…]
A Sense of Purpose by Larry Fink
Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential. It will ultimately lose the license to operate from key stakeholders. It will succumb to short-term pressures to distribute earnings, and, in the process, sacrifice investments in employee development, innovation, and capital expenditures that are necessary for long-term growth. It will remain exposed to activist campaigns that articulate a clearer goal, even if that goal serves only the shortest and narrowest of objectives. And ultimately, that company will provide subpar returns to the investors who depend on it to finance their retirement, home purchases, or higher education. [More…]
The New Digital Wild West: Regulating the Explosion of Initial Coin Offerings by Randolph A. Robinson, II
In order to provide the necessary context to understand this new decentralized world, this paper provides a non-technical legal audience with a foundational understanding of how public blockchains work. The paper begins with an introduction to the coming decentralized world, including an overview of both public blockchain technology as well the Ethereum platform, the primary public blockchain upon which ICOs are being deployed. [More…]