The chairs of three committees in the US House of Representatives sent a письмо to the head of the SEC Gary Gensler, demanding a satisfactory response to their November 1, 2022 letter regarding the agency’s internal recordkeeping.
Chairs of the Judiciary Committee, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, and the House Financial Services Committee — Jim Jordan, James Comer and Patrick McHenry — said that the information previously provided by Gensler did not contain specifics.
In particular, they asked for confirmation that the SEC complies with federal recordkeeping and transparency rules, and that Gensler and his subordinates do not use personal email for official business.
Additionally, the Commission was asked to provide clarifications on the use of “off-channel communications.” The letter also mentions discrepancies in Gensler’s publicly released meeting schedules for 2021, including those related to cryptocurrencies.
The petition served as ответом to статью газеты Wall Street Journal about the SEC’s poor recordkeeping. Among other things, it reported that officials use chats that are not checked when FOIA requests are submitted.
In the new letter, in addition to the original demands, the congressmen told Gensler that if he refuses to provide information, he should explain “the factual and legal basis for this.”
At the same time, the head of the SEC drew criticism from the Blockchain Association. The organisation said that Gensler should recuse himself from taking enforcement actions related to digital assets.
1/ SEC Chair Gary Gensler has wrongly prejudged that all digital assets are securities.
As a result, federal law requires that he recuse himself from all enforcement decisions related to digital assets.@MTCoppel and I wrote a paper explaining why ?https://t.co/xgJ09o4SPS
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) June 29, 2023
“In the space of digital assets the SEC has effectively abdicated its rulemaking role. The key questions around the digital asset industry remain unresolved,” says the Blockchain Association.
Referring to the Commissioner’s numerous statements, the group noted that Gensler “clearly” regards all digital assets except Bitcoin as unregistered securities, and crypto platforms as unregistered exchanges of securities.
“Due process requires not only that decision-makers act impartially, but also that there be no appearance of bias,” added the Blockchain Association.
SEC recipients were advised by specialists to seek Gensler’s recusal through the Commission or a federal court.
Earlier in June, US lawmakers introduced a bill to dismiss Gary Gensler and restructure the SEC due to the ongoing abuses by the agency head.