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Laurian Cristea
OVERVIEW

Laurian Cristea

Partner

New York

390 Madison Avenue
12th Floor
New York, NY 10017-2509

Raleigh

4208 Six Forks Road
Suite 1010
Raleigh, NC 27609-5738

P 646-746-2033

F 646-746-2001

With over a decade of in-house experience, Laurian Cristea counsels clients on a range of financial services regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters. Laurian offers a deep understanding of U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered exchanges and clearinghouses for any asset class including digital assets.

OVERVIEW

With over a decade of in-house experience, Laurian Cristea counsels clients on a range of financial services regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters. Laurian offers a deep understanding of U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered exchanges and clearinghouses for any asset class including digital assets.

He provides legal counsel on the products and services financial institutions offer and on the complex laws that govern the industry. Knowledgeable and driven, Laurian advises on day-to-day compliance programs, governance, member and participant issues, product development and design, regulatory inquiries and audits, system safeguards and security, technology and connectivity, and the changing cryptocurrency landscape.

Laurian is well-versed in filing, acquiring and maintaining Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) and Designated Contract Market (DCM) licenses from the CFTC, as well as state money transmitter licenses and the Virtual Currency Business Activity License (BitLicense) from the New York State Department of Financial Services. He is also an advocate before state and federal regulators on novel issues.

Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Laurian was chief legal officer and secretary at an exchange group focused on digital asset trading, where he directed legal matters and implemented regulatory strategy for trading digital currencies as spot and futures products. He also was an attorney for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission; London Clearing House (LCH); and NYSE Euronext.

Professional and Community Involvement

Member, New York City Bar Association Futures and Derivatives Regulation Committee, Exchange and Clearinghouse Subcommittee

Member, Law and Compliance Division Futures Industry Association

EXPERIENCE
Experience
  • Sold regulated financial services company for $550M
  • Spun-off intellectual property licensing business

Regulatory Licensing

  • Acquired and maintained 43 state money transmitter (money service) licenses for digital asset business
  • Acquired no-action relief from state banking authorities for regulations regarding money transmitter (money service) licenses 
  • Acquired and maintained a virtual currency business activity license (BitLicense) from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) 
  • Acquired and maintained four CFTC Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) licenses
  • Maintained a CFTC Designated Contract Market (DCM) license and a CFTC Swap Data Repository (SDR) license

Compliance and Regulatory

  • Received approval for the first futures contract based on ETH
  • Received approval for, and oversaw,  the transition of energy contracts to a new clearing house
  • Designed and launched a best-in-class compliance program adapting CFTC core principles for retail spot trading 
  • Implemented a well-tested and oft-audited BSA/AML program for spot and futures trading
  • Managed rule enforcement reviews (audits) from the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight
  • Managed annual audits from the CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk 
  • Collaborated with federal regulators on guidance regarding regulatory capital for registered entities, and guidance on capital treatment of digital assets for futures commission merchants (FCMs)
  • Assisted in SOC audits and certifications

Agreements and IP

  • Acquired multiple patent registrations post-Alice Corp. v. CLS for financial methodologies 
  • Negotiated third-party agreements for banking services, clearing services, custodial and cold-wallet services, inbound and outbound licensing, managed IT services, market data and blockchain data, matching engine (white label and new-build), product development and licensing, retail crypto tax reporting and services, regulatory services (RSAs), and trading screen GUIs and routing
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