News Nuggets | 28 September: NiceHash Exits UK; CFTC Awards Whistleblower over $300,000

NiceHash Exits the UK Market Ahead of New Regulations

The Cloud mining platform NiceHash has announced that it will cease operations in the UK starting October 10, 2023, due to upcoming Financial Conduct Authority regulations. The company advised its existing UK users to disconnect their miners early to avoid potential losses. The decision affects all NiceHash services, including its exchange, mining services, and hash power marketplace.

In anticipation of forthcoming regulations, several other digital currency firms, such as PayPal, ByBit, and Luno, have scaled back their operations in the United Kingdom.

CFTC Files Fraud Charges against Mosaic Exchange Limited

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action against Mosaic Exchange Limited and its CEO, Sean Michael, for running a fraudulent digital asset commodity scheme.

The complaint alleges that the defendants solicited and misappropriated funds from at least 17 people in the US and other countries. The CFTC is seeking various forms of legal redress, including restitution and civil monetary penalties.

CFTC Awards Whistleblower over $300,000

In a separate move, the Commission awarded over $300,000 to a whistleblower whose tip led to an enforcement action. The whistleblower provided a particularly informative tip that described the misconduct in question and assisted the CFTC staff multiple times during the investigation. The award is part of the CFTC's ongoing efforts to encourage whistleblowing.

"Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has granted whistleblower awards amounting to almost $350 million. Those awards are associated with enforcement actions that have resulted in monetary sanctions totaling more than $3 billion," the CFTC commented.

ASIC Secures Financial Penalties for Reporting Failures

Between January and June 2023, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) prosecuted 36 companies, collecting over $700,000 in penalties. These companies failed to meet various financial reporting requirements, including lodging financial reports and holding annual general meetings.

Notably, three companies (ALT Financial Group Ltd, TV2U International Ltd, and RMG Ltd) were fined more than $100,000 each for their violations.

SEC Charges California Siblings for Insider Trading

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against three siblings from Southern California for insider trading. The siblings allegedly made $650,000 in illegal profits by trading shares of General Finance Corp before its acquisition by United Rentals Inc.

Marco Perez, one of the siblings and a former Account Manager at General Finance, is accused of tipping off his siblings about the acquisition.

SEC Appoints New PCAOB Board Member

The SEC has also announced the appointment of George Botic to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The SEC's Chair Gary Gensler expressed his confidence that Botic will advance the PCAOB's mission to build trust in public companies' financial disclosures. Botic is looking forward to improving audit quality and investor protection.

"I am pleased that George will serve on the PCAOB Board," said Gensler. "George will advance the PCAOB's mission to build trust in the financial information that public companies disclose to investors. I also would like to thank Duane for his five years with the Board, including his service as Acting Chair."

Cross-Border CBDCs Successfully Tested by BIS and Central Banks

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland have successfully concluded Project Mariana. This project tested the cross-border trading and settlement of wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDCs) using decentralized finance technology. The project demonstrated the feasibility of such an infrastructure and could serve as a blueprint for future financial market infrastructures.

"Project Mariana pioneers the use of novel technology for interbank foreign exchange markets. It successfully demonstrated that it is feasible to exchange wholesale CBDC across borders using novel concepts such as automated market makers," said Cecilia Skingsley, the Head of the BIS Innovation Hub.

FMA NZ Reviews Catalist Market Operator Obligations

The Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand (FMA) has conducted its second market obligations review for Catalist Markets Limited. Catalist is licensed under section 316 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 to operate the Catalist Public Market. The FMA is required to review and report on how well Catalist is meeting its licensed market operator obligations at least once a year.