admin Dan Berkovitz, basic counsel for the USA Securities and Change Fee, stated he might be leaving the company after greater than a 12 months.
In a Dec. 22 announcement, the SEC said Berkovitz will depart on Jan. 31. A former commissioner with the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee, Berkovitz joined the company in November 2021. On the time, he said he planned to work with SEC chair Gary Gensler on a “regulatory agenda that may improve investor safety.”
“After thirty-four years of public service, it’s time for me to pursue new and totally different challenges and alternatives,” stated Berkovitz.
It is unclear whether or not Berkovitz intends to hitch the non-public sector after leaving the SEC. Brian Quintenz, who served as a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021, joined venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in September 2021 as an advisor to the corporate’s crypto group.
Megan Barbero, the SEC principal deputy basic counsel, will assume Berkovitz’s place upon his departure. Gensler stated her development got here at a “vital time” for the SEC.
Throughout his time on the CFTC, Berkovitz said the agency’s enforcement actions within the crypto area had been “aggressive,” citing a $100 million civil financial penalty in opposition to derivatives alternate BitMEX. Many have additionally criticized Gensler and the SEC for the company’s “regulation by enforcement” method to crypto.
Associated: SEC files unregistered securities charges against Thor Token creators for 2018 ICO
In 2022, the SEC specifically labeled nine tokens as “crypto asset securities” in an insider buying and selling case involving a former supervisor at crypto alternate Coinbase. The company has also announced charges in opposition to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for allegedly defrauding prospects and diverting the alternate’s funds to Alameda.
