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The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against The Hydrogen Technology Corporation, its former CEO, Michael Ross Kane, and Tyler Ostern, the CEO of Moonwalkers Trading Limited, a self-described “market making” firm, for their roles in effectuating the unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities called “Hydro” and for perpetrating a scheme to manipulate the trading volume and price of those securities, which yielded more than $2 million for Hydrogen. The SEC’s complaint alleges that starting in January 2018, Kane and Hydrogen, a New York-based financial technology company, created its Hydro token and then publicly distributed the token through various methods:  an “airdrop,” which is essentially giving away Hydro to the public; bounty programs, which paid the token to individuals in exchange for promoting it; employee compensation; and direct sales on crypto asset trading platforms.  The complaint further alleges that, after distributing ...

Chipotle Mexican Grill will pay $20 million to current and former workers at its New York City restaurants for violating city labor laws, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday. According to investigators, Chipotle’s violations of the city’s Fair Workweek law included failing to post work schedules 14 days in advance, pay a premium for schedule changes and offer available shifts to current employees before hiring new employees. The settlement between the city and the California-based fast-food chain covers about 13,000 employees who worked at the chain’s New York City outlets between 2017 and this year. It is the result of an investigation by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection into complaints filed by 160 Chipotle workers and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, city officials said. “Today’s settlement with Chipotle is not only a victory for workers by securing up to $20 million in relief for approximately 13,000 workers, but also sends a strong m...