California Corporate & Securities Law

A year ago, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills, Assembly Bill 39 and Senate Bill 401, that created the California Digital Financial Assets Law.  SB 401 added Section 3902 to the Financial Code to prohibit an operator of a digital financial asset...

In S.E.C. v. Jarkesy,2024 WL 3187811 (June 27, 2024), the United States Supreme Court held that when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment to the U.S....

Since I served as Commissioner of Corporations in the 1990s, the Department of Corporations has consolidated with the Department of Financial Institutions and changed its name twice. It is now known by the unwieldy name of "Department of Financial...

A lot has changed since George Gerro filed an action seeking a declaration that the California finance lender's license issued to BlockFi Lending LLC was both void and improperly issued: Blockfi has filed for bankruptcy; the Department of Financial...

Given the importance of venture capital to California's economy, one might expect that state lawmakers would be keen to nurture the industry rather than enact laws that encourage venture capital companies to avoid the Golden State.   Last year, I ...

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court held that when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution entitles the defendant to a jury trial.  ...

If someone told my younger self that someday people would take photographs with their phones, I would have wondered where you would insert the film.^* Today, the question would be "What is film?" When I headed the Department of Corporations in the...

California generally requires that persons engaged in the business of making loans be licensed. If not licensed under some other statute (such as the banking, credit union or residential mortgage lending laws), a lender will generally be subject to...

Recently, I wrote about the California Office of Administrative Law's rejection of regulations proposed by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation.  These proposed regulations were intended to "implement, interpret, and make specific...