Gensler Defends Work at SEC in What Sounds Like Farewell
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler touches on controversial cryptocurrency and climate disclosure regulations in likely valedictory speech.
November 14, 2024 at 03:24 PM
3 minute read
Securities LitigationIn what sounded like a farewell speech, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Thursday defended his agency's controversial regulatory approach of treating cryptocurrency as a security and calling for corporate disclosure of climate impact.
Cryptocurrency represents 5% to 8% of the SEC’s enforcement efforts, Gensler said at the Practising Law Institute’s 56th annual conference on securities regulation. He added that his focus has been on the tens of thousands of digital assets that courts have ruled are offered or sold as securities.
Gensler said he has never treated bitcoin as a security.
“Those parties offering or selling securities to the public need to register and give proper disclosure to the public,” he said. “It's not because I say it. It's because Congress has said it, it’s because president after president has said it, it's because courts have said it. It’s the law of the land.”
Digital assets—despite improvements in disclosure—carry a high propensity for fraud, Gensler said.
“Look, it's still a highly speculative asset,” he added. “It's not right for many investors. This is a field in which over the years there has been significant investor harm.”
Gensler also touched upon the controversial climate disclosure rule the commission adopted in March, which requires public companies to disclose information on their direct or indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The rule is currently stayed amid an industry challenge before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Companies have argued that the rule smacks of an environmental regulation, which they say falls outside the SEC's regulatory authority. Gensler has countered that the information is relevant, or material, for investors deciding whether to buy or sell.
“[Franklin] Roosevelt and Congress understood that in the '30s a well-regulated market built on trust creates an environment for economic success,” Gensler said. “Congress put in place important provisions about disclosure because information about securities create a public good.”
Throughout his remarks, Gensler spoke about the key role market regulation and the SEC have played in growing the American economy.
“The SEC’s effective administration of well-regulated securities markets promotes trust. It's what brings investors and issuers to the markets,” he said. "And it's what underpins the world's largest capital market. And it's what's contributed to our nation's great economic success these last 90 years.”
While his term extends through 2026, Gensler is not expected to return for the Donald Trump's second administration. The president-elect has indicated a strong desire for an SEC chairman friendlier to corporate concerns, a fact not lost on Gensler.
“Elections have consequences,” Gensler said. “And they should. I deeply believe in this democracy.”
“I’ve been proud to serve with my colleagues at SEC,” he added. “What I’m proudest of is we’ve been true to our laws, our mission.”
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