U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler testifies before a House Financial Services Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 27, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler spoke this morning at the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Conference on Securities Regulation.
It sounded an awful lot like a farewell speech.
“It’s a remarkable agency,” Gensler said of the SEC, which he has led since April 2021.
“It has been a great honor to serve with them, doing people’s work and ensuring our financial markets remain the best in the world.”
Gensler reviews his accomplishments
Gensler presented a review of what he accomplished.
In particular, Gensler highlighted the numerous disclosure rules adopted by the SEC, including disclosure of data breaches, executive compensation for performance and additional disclosures about those who seek to control and purchase more than 5% of the company’s shares. ‘a business.
Gensler made only a brief reference to his most controversial disclosure rule, on climate change, which has been challenged in court.
“Congress has established important disclosure provisions because securities information creates a public good,” he said.
Regarding market structure, Gensler said it has implemented new rules on central clearing of Treasury bills and shortening the stock settlement cycle from two days to one day, and recently adopted rules that allow stocks to be listed in increments of less than one day. penny.
Defense of the crypto position
Gensler offered a staunch defense of his approach to cryptography.
Gensler reiterated his assertion that while bitcoin is not a security, the SEC “has focused on some of the approximately 10,000 other digital assets, many of which the courts have determined were offered or sold in as securities” and are therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the SEC. .
He again asserted that anyone offering to sell securities must register, and intermediaries such as brokers, exchanges and clearing houses must also be registered.
He said the failure to properly police the crypto industry had resulted in “significant harm to investors” and that “the vast majority of crypto assets have yet to prove their sustainable use cases.”
Proud to serve
Gensler did not announce his resignation, but the tone was clear.
“I have been proud to serve with my colleagues at the SEC who, day in and day out, work to protect American families on the highways of finance,” he said at the end of his speech.
