Law Commons^™

Fair Warnings From Ofac’S Settlements With Cryptocurrency Service Providers: Compliance Should Include Lifetime-Of-The-Relationship, In-Process Geolocational Checks, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced numerous settlements with cryptocurrency exchanges. These settlements serve as “fair warnings” to all cryptocurrency service providers who are “U.S. persons” or who offer services to U.S. persons. The term “U.S. persons” is defined in 31 C.F.R. §560.314 as “any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.”

This article focuses on these “fair warnings” as they have accumulated from prior settlements and from OFAC’s published guidance …

Developments In The Laws Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Tom Kierner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The past year proved to be a busy period for the regulation of electronic payments and financial services. In this year’s survey, we discuss rulemakings, enforcement actions, and other litigation that has significantly impacted the law governing payments and financial services. Part II addresses the ongoing fight between federal and state authorities over which should properly regulate Fin- Tech entities and describes some new steps the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) has taken to assert its authority in this area. Part III details an enforcement action that California regulators took against a FinTech company they determined had …

Powerhouses: A Comparative Analysis Of Blockchain-Enabled Smart Microgrids, Michael Mattioli, Scott J. Shackelford

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For over a century, electricity in the United States has been generated and sold mainly by centralized powerplants. Although this model of power collection and distribution has many advantages, resiliency is a growing problem. Brittle infrastructure and growing complexity have made the nation’s power grid less reliable over the past twenty years. Some technologists believe the solution is to go small. In the past five years, small communities in the United States and overseas have built “micro-grids”—networks of roof-top solar panels that store electricity in communal banks of batteries, combined with software that allows homeowners and businesses to buy and …

Consumers' Declining Power In The Fintech Auto Loan Market, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Automobiles have become part of America’s infrastructure. For most people, having access to a car is crucial to their livelihoods and they will take on significant amounts of debt to purchase vehicles. Auto debt is unlike any other consumer debt, both in its structure, which allows creditors to easily seize collateral, and in its lack of regulation. The unique and lucrative nature of auto debt has not gone unnoticed by lenders or by companies leveraging fintech to offer people new ways to purchase cars and car loans. This Article assesses the evolving marketplace for auto sales, leasing, and loans to …

Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Tom Kierner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This short article surveys developments in the law affecting electronic payments and financial services from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018. During this period, significant developments occurred that affected the regulation of initial coin offerings (ICOs), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposal to issue “special purpose national bank charters” to FinTech companies, the CFPB’s final regulation of prepaid, general-purpose cards, state regulation of payroll cards, and how lawyers taking cryptocurrencies from clients as payment for services or for safekeeping should protect them. The survey also presents newly issued BitLicenses under the New York Department of Financial …

Property, Agency, And The Blockchain: New Technology, And Longstanding Legal Paradigms, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article, presented first as the keynote address at the February 2019 Symposium “The Emerging Blockchain and the Law” at Wayne State, explores the need for repetitive considerations of how blockchain technology affects our traditional concepts of property and agency. The article concludes that well-tested norms of property and agency may matter more, not less, when new technologies such as blockchain are used.

"Gatekeepers" Are Vital Participants In Anti-Money-Laundering Laws And Enforcement Regimes As Permission-Less Blockchain-Based Transactions Pose Challenges To Current Means To "Follow The Money", Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Two phenomena dominate reports about blockchain-based transactions—that they will disrupt and displace legacy banking, securities, and trade intermediaries, and that they present new or greater opportunities for hiding proceeds of crimes or corruption. This essay does not deal with the former topic. Rather, the organizers of the symposium at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law asks me to consider the latter question. It proved to be a tough assignment.

This essay looks at the separate questions of (1) the degree to which permission-less blockchain transactions will disrupt current anti-money laundering (AML) regimes and enforcement efforts, and (2) what …

More Steps Toward Fully Electronic Interbank Check Collection And Return: Amendments To Federal Reserve Board Regulation Cc And A Regulatory Resolution Of A Circuit Split, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article analyzes two actions in 2017 and 2018, respectively, by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that amend Regulation CC, which governs expedited deposit availability and collection of checks generally and implements the Expedited Funds Availability Act of 1987 and the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act of 2003. It selects examples from the two sets of amendments that highlight regulatory strategies being used by the Board to facilitate faster payments through the movement of electronic images of checks or electronic information among banks in the check-collection process. Those strategies involve creation of new forms …

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Tom Kierner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Our past surveys have observed that frequent changes in the rules surrounding electronic payments-spurred by both regulation and enforcement actions create uncertainty and make forward progress difficult for many providers. This survey year is no exception: regulators have taken "two steps forward, one step back" on a number of fronts. This survey reports on (1) the proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") regarding "fintech" charters, which states have challenged in actions still pending- (2) changes to Regulation CC regarding remote check deposit and disputes over altered or forged checks-(3) the Supreme Court's decision in Expression …

Blockchain Versus Data Protection, Fred H. Cate, Christopher Kuner, Orla Lynskey, Christopher Millard, Nora Ni Loideain, Dan Jerker B. Svantesson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Tom Kierner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Advancing A Framework For Regulating Cryptocurrency Payments Intermediaries, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article looks at competing models for regulating providers of services to individuals and businesses that take cryptocurrencies in payment for goods and services, including operators of online wallets and exchanges, and other cryptocurrency market intermediaries whose functions resemble "money service businesses" or "money transmission." We conclude that, in addition to whatever "money services" or "money transmission "prudential regulation the States or federal government may adopt, the operation of wallets and exchanges requires a new commercial law that lays out rights and liabilities of cryptocurrency users in a robust and transparent fashion. We use Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial …

Are These Game Changers? Developments In The Law Affecting Virtual Currencies, Prepaid Payroll Cards, Online Tribal Lending, And Payday Lenders, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In the year since our last survey, there have been significant legal developments in the areas of virtual currencies, prepaid payroll cards, online tribal lending, and payday lending. What connects some of these topics is an increasingly common strategy by federal banking regulators to influence and control the actions of entities that are not directly subject to their supervision through the relationships such entities have with regulated financial institutions. These developments also demonstrate robust state legislative and regulatory action relating to the provision of electronic payments and financial services, and document class actions alleging violations of federal and state laws. …

Regulating Cryptocurrencies In The United States: Current Issues And Future Directions, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article explores the state of virtual currencies and their regulation in and by the United States and the States. It offers thoughts on which models of regulation might suit virtual currencies best. It also surveys recent enforcement actions brought by the Departments of Treasury, Justice and Homeland Security against providers of virtual currencies or comparable electronic stored value. It concludes that issuers and users of virtual currencies are not being realistic if they think that the United States will not regulate virtual currencies for some purposes.

Virtual Uncertainty: Developments In The Law Of Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article surveys developments in the laws relating to virtual currencies and their regulation by the Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and enforcement actions taken by the Departments of Treasury, Homeland Security and Justice against funds held in deposit accounts owned by Dwolla, Mt. Gox, and Mutum Sigillum, LLC, and DOJ's action against Liberty Reserve. It also analyses changes to the CFPB's cross-border remittance transfer regulations, and its first use of its preemption authority to preempt portions of the Maine and Tennessee gift card laws pertaining to expiry, and the first action by the FDIC against a bank …

L'Embarras Du Choix: A Year Of Developments In The Laws Affecting Remittance Transfers, Credit Cards, And Certain Prepaid Cards, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Developments In The Laws Governing Electronic Payments, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Some Basic Concerns About The Cfpa Legislation And A Partial Response To Professor Bar-Gill's "The Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Sorting The Critiques", Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Duty Issues In The Ever-Changing World Of Payments Processing: Is It Time For New Rules?, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Developments In The Law Concerning Stored-Value Cards And Other Electronic Payments Products, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Broox W. Peterson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

E-Commerce In Wine, J. Alexander Tanford

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Developments In The Law Concerning Stored Value And Other Prepaid Payment Products, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Broox W. Peterson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Unification Of The Law Governing Secured Transactions: Progress And Prospects For Reform, Hannah Buxbaum

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article was published in connection with UNIDROIT's 75th anniversary conference on worldwide harmonization of private law and regional economic integration. It begins by addressing the commercial need for harmonization in the area of secured transactions, discussing both traditional conflicts analysis in that field and particular obstacles to reform. It then outlines the specific reform initiatives that have been implemented to date, grouping them into sectoral instruments and regional instruments. It concludes by speculating on the future of harmonization efforts in security law.

Language And Formalities In Commercial Contracts: A Defense Of Custom And Conduct, David V. Snyder

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article defends the decision to retain usage of trade, course of performance, and course of dealing in the revision of Article 1 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The article responds to recent neoformalist criticisms of the incorporation approach and offers a theoretical justification. Usage of trade and course of dealing should be understood as part of the parties' language, following Wittgenstein's understanding of language. Course of performance, which presents a weaker case in terms of language, should be understood as a legal formality, following Fuller's explanation of formalities. Thus understood, custom and conduct can be as important as written …

A Call For International Legal Standards For Emerging Retail Electronic Payment Systems, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Municipal Securities Market: Same Problems -- No Solutions, Ann Judith Gellis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article examines the existing regulations of the municipal securities market, focusing on what activities prompted the regulatory changes and analyzing the direction and efficacy of these regulations in terms of the deficiencies in the market. Part One gives a background sketch of the market and its participants from the time of the New York City fiscal crises to today. Part Two discusses whether the existing regulation is sufficient to produce disclosure, focusing on the Orange County crises. Part Three offers a critique of the current regulatory scheme and makes some suggestions for reform.

Report: The Indiana Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act - Introduction, Bruce A. Markell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Debt-Equity Conversions, Debt-For-Nature Swaps, And The Continuing World Debt Crisis, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Regulation Of Speech Incident To The Sale Or Promotion Of Goods And Services: A Multifactor Approach, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.