U.S. SEC Closes Salt Lake City Regional Office After Unsuccessful Action Against DEBT Box
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will close its Salt Lake City Regional Office (SLRO) by the end of this year, reducing the total number of SEC regional offices from 11 to 10.
The SEC stated that the SLRO "has long been the smallest regional office of the Commission," emphasizing that the closure is part of an effort to improve budget efficiency and organizational effectiveness.
As part of the jurisdiction transfer, the SEC’s Denver office will take over all enforcement matters previously handled by the Salt Lake City office.
This decision follows a dismissed lawsuit against DEBT Box, in which the SEC was criticized for "bad-faith conduct" and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in legal fees. In July of last year, the SEC had accused DEBT Box of running an illegal $50 million cryptocurrency scheme, alleging that the company misled investors about the nature of their investments.
In April, a federal judge reprimanded SEC lawyers for attempting to seize DEBT Box’s assets "unlawfully." The lawyers subsequently resigned.
The SEC’s aggressive stance on cryptocurrency enforcement has seen numerous actions against prominent companies, but this recent legal setback and the subsequent office closure mark a significant regulatory challenge for the agency.