SEC General Counsel Announces Resignation
2022.12.23 11:15
SEC General Counsel Announces Resignation
Budrigannews.com – After more than a year with the Securities and Exchange Commission, general counsel Dan Berkovitz announced his departure.
The SEC announced on December 22 that Berkovitz would be leaving on January 31. Berkovitz joined the agency in November 2021 after serving as a commissioner with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He stated at the time that he would collaborate with SEC chair Gary Gensler to develop a “regulatory agenda that will enhance investor protection.”
Berkovitz stated, “It is time for me to pursue new and different challenges and opportunities after thirty-four years of public service.”
After leaving the SEC, it is unknown whether Berkovitz intends to enter the private sector. From 2017 to 2021, Brian Quintenz was a commissioner of the CFTC. In September 2021, he joined the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as an advisor to the crypto team.
When Berkovitz leaves, Megan Barbero, the SEC’s principal deputy general counsel, will take over his position. According to Gensler, her promotion came at a “critical time” for the SEC.
Berkovitz claimed that the CFTC’s crypto enforcement actions were “aggressive” while he was working there, citing BitMEX’s $100 million civil monetary penalty as an example. Gensler and the SEC have also come under fire for their “regulation by enforcement” crypto policy.
More What Unites CBDC and Cryptography
In an insider trading case involving a former Coinbase manager in 2022, the SEC specifically classified nine tokens as “crypto asset securities.” The agency has also announced charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, for allegedly defrauding customers and transferring funds from the exchange to Alameda.
