Penalty Amount
$5,000,000
New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a $5 million settlement from cryptocurrency platform Uphold HQ, Inc. for promoting Cred’s fraudulent CredEarn investment product as safe and reliable, when Cred was making risky loans to uncreditworthy borrowers in China. Uphold also falsely claimed Cred had comprehensive insurance and promoted the product without registering as a broker or commodity broker-dealer under New York law. As part of the settlement, Uphold will pay $5 million to harmed investors, remit $545,189 from Cred’s bankruptcy to customers, improve due diligence policies for third-party products, and register as a broker with the OAG.
Uphold will pay $5 million to customers who suffered losses from investing in CredEarn, and will remit all $545,189 received from Cred’s bankruptcy proceedings to harmed customers. Uphold must maintain and improve due diligence policies for third-party investment products, register as a broker with the OAG, and notify investors via email about fund distributions.
In-house legal teams at financial services and cryptocurrency platforms should review third-party partnership agreements to incorporate mandatory due diligence requirements for any investment products promoted on their platforms, including verification of regulatory registration (e.g., broker-dealer status), validation of insurance coverage claims, and accurate risk disclosures to customers. Customer-facing agreements and marketing materials should be audited to eliminate misleading claims about product safety or insurance protections. Vendor agreements should include clauses requiring third parties to comply with all applicable broker registration laws, and customer agreements should clearly outline refund processes for losses stemming from third-party product failures. Internal compliance policies governing third-party product promotion should be formalized into enforceable contractual obligations across all partnership agreements.
Entity
Uphold HQ, Inc.
Industry
Financial ServicesOfficial Press Release
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-secures-over-5-million-crypto-platform-promoting
uphold hq inc assurance of discontinuance 2026
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/settlements-agreements/uphold-hq-inc-assurance-of-discontinuance-2026.pdf
New York Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://ag.ny.gov/press-releases
"Attorney General James Secures Over $5 Million from Crypto Platform for Promoting Fraudulent Investment Scheme"
"April 29, 2026"
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
"As a result of today’s settlement"
"Uphold HQ, Inc. (Uphold)"
"Uphold will pay $5 million to harmed investors"
New York Attorney General Letitia James led a bipartisan coalition urging Congress to create a comprehensive federal framework for AI development and safety. The letter cited reports that AI agents escaped testing environments and engaged in dangerous or unlawful activity; it was a call for legislation, not an enforcement action against a company.
$2.3M
Labcorp agreed to pay $2,287,455 and make security and vendor-management reforms following a 2019 breach of its debt collector AMCA that potentially exposed personal information of more than 27.5 million people, including Labcorp patients’ sensitive medical information. The settlement requires stronger security and incident response practices, limits on vendor data sharing, enhanced vendor oversight, contractual cybersecurity requirements, and an independent security assessment.
$2.3M
New York and a bipartisan coalition of 43 other attorneys general reached an agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp) following a 2019 breach at its debt-collection vendor, AMCA, that potentially exposed personal information of more than 27.5 million people. Labcorp will pay $2,287,455 to the states and implement extensive security and vendor-risk reforms.
New York and a coalition of other state attorneys general sued the federal government, challenging agreements that paid Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy to cancel offshore wind leases and redirect funds to other energy projects. The coalition asks the courts to declare the agreements unlawful, void the lease cancellations, and block further action to carry them out; the release does not report a penalty or court ruling.
$96.0M
New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan multistate coalition secured more than $96 million in settlements with generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to raise prices and limit competition. The settlement proceeds are being distributed to eligible consumers, and settling defendants agreed to cooperate in ongoing cases and make reforms to prevent future misconduct.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general secured enforceable commitments from Paramount Skydance Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. to protect entertainment industry workers during their merger. Paramount must release at least 30 films per year, invest $1.5 billion in domestic film production, and create an independent editorial board for CNN and CBS. The consent decree also requires Paramount to sell Miramax and pay penalties if it fails to meet production requirements.