SEC enforcement chief steps down just days after appointment

The official's conduct in past litigation was brought into question by a U.S. District court judge.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission new enforcement chief, Alex Oh, has resigned from her position with the Securities and Exchange Commission just days after taking the role.

According to an official SEC announcement, Oh stepped down for personal reasons. However, in Oh’s resignation letter to Chairman Gary Gensler — as seen by Bloomberg — the former enforcement chief revealed she was stepping down to avoid becoming a distraction, as she deals with controversies arising from a case she worked in the past.

Oh was previously a partner at the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison private law practice, where she represented, among others, oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. The case in question reportedly relates to Oh’s defense of Exxon against allegations that the firm had supported the torture and murder of Indonesian villagers.

Oh’s conduct during the litigation was brought into question by U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth on April 26. Oh was asked to provide evidence for the unsupported claim she made during a deposition for the case that her opposing counsel was “agitated, disrespectful, and unhinged”.

“A development arose this week in one of the cases on which I worked while still in private law practice. I have reached the conclusion that I cannot address this development without it becoming an unwelcome distraction,” said Oh, in her resignation letter to the SEC chairman.

Oh will be replaced by Melissa Hodgman, who previously served in the role in early 2021. Hodgeman will serve as the acting director of enforcement going forward.

Gary Gensler's appointment as SEC chairman in mid-April was seen as a possible boon to the cryptocurrency space, given Gensler's history as a blockchain educator, and his acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies' role as new financial tools.

However, Oh's resignation means Gensler is now without his first pick for the role of enforcement chief. How much this will disrupt Gensler's plans during his tenure as SEC chairman remains to be seen.

from https://ift.tt/2PBse85
https://ift.tt/3xCNCuY

Comments

ENS DAO delegates offer perspective on DAO governance and decentralized identity

AlphaWallet CEO and Spruce co-founder talk about their roles as contributors to the Ethereum Name Service following the project's recent airdrop. Earlier this month, the Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, formed a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, for the ENS community. Cointelegraph spoke to two ENS DAO delegates who applied for the opportunity to represent the community and stay involved in the decision making process: Victor Zhang, CEO of AlphaWallet, an open source Ethereum wallet, and Gregory Rocco, co-founder of Spruce, a decentralized ID and data toolkit for developers. Zhang spoke about his experience as an external contributor to ENS and an early supporter since 2018. Zhang initially sought to help ENS by offering Alpha Wallet as a user-friendly tool for resolving .eth names and cryptocurrency wallet addresses. Essentially, if a user inputs an .eth name in the AlphaWallet, it will show the wallet address, and vice versa using reverse resolution. Alpha...

How Social Platform Chingari is Using Web 3.0 to Transform the Traditional Way We Use Social Media

The world is changing. This isn’t news to anyone, but sometimes it is nice to realize that—contrary to news headlines—not all the change is bad. In fact, the last decade has seen so much innovation and so many improvements to technology that even 2015 seems like a different world. Internet speeds, connecting with anyone globally (for free), and our ability to reach large groups of people without a middleman is nothing short of revolutionary. When it comes to technology evolution, this often happens with different iterations. Once a system is mature, there’s a better idea of what we would like to change and improve. We go back to the drawing board, target our creative minds at the issues, and create a new version that has evolved to better meet our needs. The Internet has followed this model since its inception, evolving through three distinct stages. We are only at the cusp of the third stage, called Web 3.0, with technologies such as blockchain and ...

INX submits bid for Voyager Digital's assets

FTX US won a $1.4-billion bid to purchase Voyager’s assets in September, but with the firm filing for bankruptcy, the funds were once again up for grabs. Trading platform INX has submitted a bid for an undisclosed amount to purchase the assets of crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital. In a Nov. 30 announcement, INX said it had sent a non-binding letter of intent for Voyager’s assets following the platform filing for bankruptcy in July. According to INX CEO Shy Datika, the bid was aimed at providing “credibility, technology, and unique regulatory positioning” for Voyager users seeking stability in a volatile market. Voyager’s original bankruptcy filing from the Southern District Court of New York suggested the firm could owe between $1 billion to $10 billion to more than 100,000 creditors amid a bear market and exposure to Three Arrows Capital. In September, FTX US won a $1.4-billion bid to purchase Voyager’s assets, but with FTX Group itself filing for bankruptcy in November, th...

Crypto Coin Search

Search This Blog