FOX reporter Eleanor Terrett recently tweeted a list of several executives who left the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and immediately joined the encryption industry, including former law enforcement directors and legal representatives who led the lawsuits between Coinbase and Ripple, including those who have served for more than 8 years. old employees.
(The thin line between politics and business? From blocking Bitcoin ETFs to guiding crypto institutions, the past and present of the former SEC chairman)
Senior SEC officials enter business one after another
The SEC has continued to see high-level personnel transfers this year, especially core personnel in the crypto assets and cybersecurity departments and officials who have participated in encryption-related law enforcement cases. After leaving the SEC, they joined private law firms focusing on the encryption and financial fields.
Carolyn Welshhans
Formerly acting director of the SEC’s Crypto-Assets and Cybersecurity Unit, he joined law firm Morgan Lewis in October to focus on securities enforcement issues.
Gurbir Grewal
The former SEC enforcement director joins Milbank Law Firm, and the firm's current clients include Binance's lawsuit with the SEC, which alleged that Binance took place during Gurbir Grewal's tenure.
David Hirsch
The former SEC Crypto Assets and Cybersecurity Unit Director joins McGuireWoods to advise on crypto-related matters and cybersecurity regulations.
Ladan Stewart
Former Assistant Director of the Enforcement Division joined the law firm White & Case to assist clients with regulatory-related advice involving cryptocurrencies and other financial matters. He once led the SEC's lawsuits against Telegram and Ripple.
Ladan Stewart has served in the SEC for more than 8 years. She revealed several points in an exclusive interview with Forbes:
The SEC is indeed technology neutral and has no systematic plan to eliminate cryptocurrencies.
Industry players are even more reluctant to have contact with the SEC because they are worried about becoming targets of enforcement.
She believes that the Howey test is limited in determining whether a cryptocurrency is a security.
A memecoin can be a security under certain circumstances.
The SEC will not devote a lot of resources to NFTs for the time being because it is busy with other cases.
(Fired by SEC for poor performance? Bloomberg: Two lawyers in the Debt Box case have been forced to resign)
NEW: The so-called “revolving door” at the @SECGov has been particularly cyclical this year with a handful of notable officials leaving the agency to go into private practice at firms that service clients in the financial services sector.
Carolyn Welshhans, former Acting…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 14, 2024
The revolving door phenomenon in politics and business
The behavior of senior SEC officials turning to the private business field has aroused the attention and criticism of the "revolving door" phenomenon in the industry and the community, believing that there is a conflict of interest between law enforcement and the private sector. This is not the first time that this has occurred. Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Immediately after leaving office, he served as a consultant to the crypto asset management institution One River, helping to promote the progress of related crypto funds. He was interviewed at the beginning of the year and stated that the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF was destined to happen.
However, given that there seem to be more people doing business in the SEC this year, FOX reporter Eleanor Terrett also emphasized that changes in people in the SEC seem to be particularly frequent this year.
(The thin line between politics and business? From blocking Bitcoin ETFs to guiding crypto institutions, the past and present of the former SEC chairman)
This article The SEC’s political and business revolving door appears frequently, with many senior officials switching jobs to join law firms. First appeared on Lian News ABMedia.
