In a recent article for the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, Schulte Roth & Zabel partners Charles J. Clark, Douglas I. Koff, Gary Stein, Craig S. Warkol and Peter H. White and associate Benjamin Lewson detail the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision in United States v. Blaszczak. 

On Dec. 27, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued another decision in United States v. Blaszczak (“Blaszczak II”), this time delivering a victory to defendants accused of insider trading based on non-public predecisional government information. The case was heard by the Second Circuit following remand from the Supreme Court after its ruling in Kelly v. United States, 140 S. Ct. 1565 (2020), clarifying what can be considered “property” under federal criminal statutes. We had previously written about the Blaszczak case while the decision from the Second Circuit was pending and, earlier, after the Second Circuit’s initial ruling in the case.

In a recent IFLR article titled “Crypto Custody Rule Change Reignites Commodity vs. Security Debate,” Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Christopher Avellaneda analyzed a proposed modification of the SEC’s custody rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, which has sparked the question of whether crypto assets should be defined as securities or commodities.

“The update would repeal and replace the current custody rule with a new rule called the safekeeping client assets rule,” said Chris. “Several of the proposed changes will meaningfully impact crypto, although they’re not limited to it. The proposal has significant ramifications for the entire private funds and asset management industry.”

Read the article here.