In late May, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), a consortium of ocean carriers and terminal operators, filed a petition with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to obtain an antitrust exemption under the U.S. Shipping Act of 1984. The Act seeks to promote efficient ocean commerce and industry response to international shipping practices by, among other things, providing for antitrust immunity for ocean common carrier agreements filed with the FMC that concern activities outlined in…

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced proposed rule amendments to “harmonize, simplify, and improve the exempt offering framework to promote capital formation and expand investment opportunities while preserving and enhancing important investor protections,” which may increase the viability of conducting issuances of digital securities. Under the Securities Act of 1933, every offer and sale of securities must either be registered with the SEC or qualify for an exemption from the SEC’s registration…

The leading Italian news agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), which represents 24 major Italian newspapers and distributes over 3,000 news articles daily, announced in early April that it has begun using a blockchain-based solution run on the Ethereum public blockchain to verify the origin of news stories that appear on ANSA platforms or are distributed to other sites, such as social media pages. Stories actually originating from the ANSA platform (without modification)…

On March 17, 2020, the governor of Hawaii announced the Digital Currency Innovation Lab, a collaborative effort between Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Division of Financial Institutions (DFI) and Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, to regulate business transactions utilizing cryptocurrencies. The two-year pilot program allows selected companies to conduct business transactions using digital currency that otherwise would require a Hawaii Money Transmitter License under the state’s Money Transmission Act. The announcement of this…

The combination of smart contracts with blockchain technology has created new opportunities to conduct business, realize efficiencies and establish legally enforceable digital contracts. In this two-part video series, Proskauer’s Jeffrey Neuburger and Wai Choy share: Part 1 (Smart Contracts: Benefits & Legal Enforceability): An overview of smart contracts and their use cases, and the law regarding enforceability of computer code as legal contracts; and Part 2 (Smart Contracts: Best Practices): Best practices they have developed…

In the latest development in the ongoing dispute between the SEC and Telegram Group Inc. (Telegram), Judge P. Kevin Castel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a March 24, 2020 opinion granted the SEC’s motion for preliminary injunction to prevent Telegram from distributing Grams purchased in its initial coin offering (ICO). The case between the SEC and Telegram began last October, when the SEC filed an emergency action…