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Steven Lofchie is the Chief Legal Architect and a co-founder of Caffrey.AI, an AI platform built for law firms, banks, and the financial regulatory industry. He is also a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, where he advises financial institutions on securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act, and broker-dealer regulation. Ranked by Chambers USA every year since 2007, he is the author of “Lofchie’s Guide to Broker-Dealer Regulation,” long considered the leading treatise on the subject.

Recent Articles & Comments

This case raises questions as to whether the failures were specific to the attorneys involved or were indicative of broader issues. Might the SEC's actions reflect a political hostility toward crypto that encouraged SEC attorneys to be aggressive to the point of "gross abuse of power"? Is this case another example of the SEC's willingness to take positions which stretch the bounds of its authority, similar to its pursuit of rules under procedures that fail to comply with the ?  

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The purpose of the CFPB, as , is to "regulate the offering and provision of consumer financial products or services under the Federal consumer financial laws." It is a stretch to get from that purpose, as set forth by Congress, to regulating bank mergers. A recurrent theme in financial regulation is the tendency for financial regulators to interpret their mandates broadly, and perhaps dedicate fewer of their available resources to the matters actually within their purview. None of the…

Public comments on the delay in allowing the listing of an Ethereum-based ETF to go forward appear to indicate that the SEC cannot decide whether the coin is a "security." 

Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market value (Bitcoin is largest); it trades in very big volumes (as reported by Forbes on March 21 over $23 billion in a day) and has done so for a long time. By now, the SEC should have formulated a view as to whether Ethereum is a security. If the SEC…

Here is what AI had to say about Chair Gensler's remarks when prompted:

1. **Describe in good detail any problems that the Speaker identifies.**
   - The speaker identifies the problem of "AI washing," where investment advisers, broker dealers, and public companies may falsely claim to use AI technology to attract investors or enhance stock prices. This includes misleading statements about using AI models or exaggerating the extent to which AI is integrated into their…