The Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler appears to have more enemies among lawmakers than previously envisaged. In a recent twist, Congressman Warren Davidson has vowed to introduce a Bill that will force the Biden Administration to sack Gary Gensler.
Taking to his official Twitter Handle, Rep Davidson said the bill will ensure that former officials or heads of the regulatory agency will also not be eligible to assume the position moving forward.
“To correct a long series of abuses, I am introducing legislation that removes the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and replaces the role with an Executive Director that reports to the Board (where authority resides). Former Chairs of the SEC are ineligible,” Rep Davidson said in response to the comment from both SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal highlighting the anti-innovation approach of the commission.
Members of the crypto ecosystem are particularly unhappy with the SEC and Gary Gensler in particular. While the Ripple legal tussle with the commission is being keenly watched, this year has seen a more elevated number of crackdowns on trading platforms and dominant Web3.0 companies in the US.
Are the SEC’s Crackdowns Justifiable?
While the collapse of the FTX Derivatives Exchange has been tagged as a wake up call on the part of the regulators to protect investors, the approach of the SEC has been tagged as an attempt to stiffen innovation as the regulator preferred enforcement over deliberation.
The regulator has had a very busy year, sending Wells Notices to Paxos Trust, the issuer of the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin as well as to Coinbase Exchange. In what appears to be a twist, the regulator has offered a plea deal to a former Coinbase Executive who is under prosecution for insider trading offences.
While the clamor for intense and specific regulation for the industry has grown over the past months, Chairman Gary Gensler has maintained his stance that there is no need for additional regulation. According to him, the securities provision is enough to cover for the crypto ecosystem as well.
