SEC’s compliance office to examine traders’ risks in cryptocurrencies and ICOs

Coin offerings will be examined to ensure traders receive adequate risk disclosures for crypto deals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) compliance department highlighted the need to carefully monitor risks associated with the emerging cryptocurrency industry and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2018.

The SECs Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published its annual list of priorities this week, after SEC chairman Jay Clayton fielded questions concerning the oversight role of U.S. regulators with regards to virtual currencies at an open session Senate Committee hearing in Washington D.C. yesterday.

“Of particular interest this year will be matters involving critical market infrastructure, duties to retail investors, and developments in cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings, and secondary market trading,” OCIE said.

OCIE plans to monitor the growth of digital currencies and ICOs, while examining registrants involved in offers and sales to ensure investors receive adequate disclosures about the risks associated with these investments.

This strategy may reveal answers to some of the questions posed by the Senate Committee during the hearing on Tuesday – in particular queries put forward by Senator Jack Reed concerning financial systemic risks.

“Are you tracking all these different daily emerging currencies?” Reed asked U.S. regulators during the hearing.
“Is someone looking long term at the systemic effects? Where are we going to be?”

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo told Reed that, “right now, this [crypto] is still a relatively small market, just by ratio, but… we have to watch it and watch it carefully”.

SEC chairman Jay Clayton agreed with Giancarlo’s assessment but was quick to warn the Senate Committee that “if people are getting ripped off, that represents reputational risks, which can have systemic effects”.

The two chairmen revealed the SEC’s plans to “devote a significant portion of resources” to surveying and investigating the unseasoned and controversial coin offering marketplace in a WSJ op-ed in late January.

You can learn all about different exchanges, understand exactly how to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, calculate your taxes, discover digital wallets to hold assets and explore a list of the alternative coins on the market.

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