SEC, California, Federal Reserve beat Silvergate Bank’s dead horse
The post SEC, California, Federal Reserve beat Silvergate Bank’s dead horse appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is showing no signs of halting its campaign against non-compliant ‘crypto’ crooks, regardless of whether they’re dead or alive. On July 1, the SEC announced that it had filed charges against Silvergate Capital Corporation, which operated the California-based ‘crypto-friendly’ Silvergate Bank that went belly-up in March 2023. Silvergate’s collapse followed the November 2022 implosion of the FTX exchange, which (along with numerous other exchanges) had used the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) 24/7 settlement platform. While Silvergate is deader than a doornail, the SEC’s charges also target the bank’s former CEO, Alan Lan; its former chief risk officer, Kathleen Fraher; and its former CFO, Antonio Martino. Lane and Fraher were charged with misleading investors as to the strength of the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs, while Martino stands accused of misleading investors as to the bank’s losses from debt securities sales following FTX’s demise. Silvergate, Lane, and Fraher have all reached settlements with the SEC, while Martino is apparently holding out for a hero and/or a better deal. Silvergate has agreed to pay (if it can) a $50 million civil penalty, while Lane and Fraher will pay $1 million and $250,000, respectively. All the principals save Martino have agreed to permanent injunctions, with Lane and Fraher also agreeing to five-year officer-and-director prohibitions. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, offers insights into the corruption at the heart of SEN, which launched in 2017. In addition to FTX, other prominent exchanges, including Binance.US, Gemini, and Kraken, made use of the network for their fiat currency transfer needs (primarily for customers to deposit fiat into their exchange accounts). The SEC accuses Silvergate of failing to adequately monitor for suspicious activity among the $1 trillion worth of…
Filed under: News - @ July 3, 2024 1:22 pm