Notwithstanding the number of FINRA rules that may be expanded in scope, as a practical matter the effect on firms should be limited. That said, firms should review carefully both the rules and their business practices, as there will be some impact. For example, firms should consider whether there are new employee registration requirements applicable to employees engaged in distribution activities with respect to government-sponsored enterprise securities.

It is hard to imagine a non-arbitrary argument for permitting the listing of a bitcoin-futures fund, but not of a bitcoin fund. (See also .)

Mr. Hsu's observation that crypto assets are very different from non-crypto assets contradicts SEC Chair Gary Gensler's position that crypto assets are no different from other securities and that "like must be treated as like." Mr. Hsu warns, quite rightly, that there really are differences and that financial regulators should be thinking through those differences.

That said, Mr. Hsu's statement that crypto assets must be absolutely separated from the traditional banking systems seems…

While the issue of "greenwashing" has been the focal point of investment advisers' ESG activities, there is a separate issue of equal legal importance: whether an ESG-based investment strategy may be inconsistent with an adviser's fiduciary obligation to maximize returns, at least where the client has not affirmatively consented to a potential sacrifice of investment returns in order to obtain some non-economic end. Under the Trump administration, the DOL sought to that would detract from…