US congressman accuses SEC chair of failing to regulate the crypto industry

The chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, is to testify before Congress on his approach to crypto regulation, according to Rep. Tom Emmer.

.@GaryGensler must testify before Congress and answer questions about the cost of his regulatory failures.

— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) December 9, 2022

Emmer criticized the regulator’s information-gathering efforts from crypto companies that could have prevented problems such as the collapse of FTX.

“… the SEC’s requests were more haphazard and unfocused,” the politician noted.

In his view, the agency repeatedly demonstrated a lack of clarity about its approach to regulating the industry and did not want to share important information. He cited a letter sent to Gensler in March that raised questions about the agency’s policy and procedures.

Instead, Gensler decided to explain to Congress the roles of the SEC’s Enforcement and Examination Divisions. pic.twitter.com/bmlPmnIvin

— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) December 9, 2022

“He refused to provide the information requested in the letter, which would have informed Congress about clear discrepancies in Gensler’s approach, causing him to miss [Terra/LUNA], Celsius, Voyager and FTX collapses. Instead, Gensler chose to explain to Congress the roles of the SEC’s enforcement and examination divisions,” Emmer noted.

The congressman stressed that the lack of transparency in the chair’s actions harms investors. The head of the SEC has not publicly appeared before the House Financial Services Committee since October 2021, and its members learned about the agency’s investigations from the press, he added.

Gensler has repeatedly dodged Congress at the expense of investors (hasn’t publicly appeared before the House Financial Services since October 5, 2021), leaving us to learn about the SEC’s crypto investigations, like the one into FTX, through the media.

— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) December 9, 2022

“Gary Gensler must testify before Congress and answer questions about the cost of his regulatory failures,” concluded the congressman.

Earlier, Emmer accused the SEC of an unethical stance toward the industry and noted that Gensler had chosen a tactic of harassment and threats.

In November, Emmer described the FTX collapse as a failure of crypto regulation.

Prior to that, billionaire Mark Cuban criticised Gensler for unclear rules for Bitcoin entrepreneurs and investors.

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