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Gary Gensler to leave role as SEC chairman


Gary Gensler to leave role as SEC chairman

Reuters Headshot of Gary Gensler who is smiling and wearing a suitReuters

The head of the US financial regulator, Gary Gensler, will resign from his role on the day of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Mr Gensler confirmed the information on social media platform X after the stocks and bonds and swap fee (SEC) said its 33rd chairman would step down on 20 January next year.

“I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without terror or favor,” Mr Gensler wrote.

Trump revealed plans to sack Mr Gensler on “day one” of his recent administration after the chairman took legal action against crypto firms, sparking controversy in some quarters.

Appointed SEC chair in 2021, Mr Gensler’s term is technically supposed to run until 2026, but it is normal for agency leaders to depart their positions when a recent administration begins.

The president-elect and Mr Gensler have very different views on cryptocurrencies, which has sparked tension between them.

Values of different cryptocurrencies have been rising since Trump won the election, with Bitcoin reaching a record high worth of $98,000 (£77,955) on Thursday.

Investors depend Trump will rein in enforcement action and that any regulation will be lighter with a Republican in fee than it might have been under Democrats.

Crypto firms donated at least $119m to Congressional candidates they ponder will pass legislation that is more favourable to their interests.

At a Bitcoin conference in July, Trump said he would make the US “the crypto capital of the earth”.

He also launched his household’s cryptocurrency assignment, globe Liberty financial, in the middle of his campaign but there have been very few details released about it so far.

In contrast Mr Gensler told the BBC in September that it was an industry “rife with fraud and hucksters and grifters”.

Under the Biden administration, the SEC has led a crackdown on the industry, which resulted in a record high of 46 enforcement actions last year.

Those cases led to the founders of two of the globe’s biggest crypto platforms, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao, being sentenced to jail.

It is thought the recent Trump administration will put far less resources into policing the industry.

“Gary Gensler is going to leave and everyone in the crypto throng is incredibly enthusiastic,” Kristin Smith, chief executive of the Blockchain Association, a throng that represents crypto industry businesses, told BBC information.

“All he did was arrive after the industry with litigation… so we are joyful to get him out of the way.”

The president-elect is also reported to be considering appointing a presidential adviser concentrated solely on the crypto industry.

The SEC has clashed with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has become a powerful friend of Trump’s and who the president-elect has picked to navigator a recent “Department of Government Efficiency”.

The regulator has been investigating Mr Musk for potential fraud involving his 2022 purchase of social media platform Twitter, which he later renamed X. Mr Musk has accused the SEC of harassment and has refused to continue co-operating with its investigation.

While there has been a lot of focus on the SEC’s regulation of crypto during Mr Gensler’s period as chair, he has also led tough rules in other areas.

Many of his reforms were concentrated on the architecture of financial markets, including measures to make large capital funds more resilient to shocks.

He also cut the amount of period it takes to settle deals when people buy and sell shares, helping ensure money changes hands quicker.

There was less achievement with efforts to get companies to better disclose the risks they face from climate transformation, recent rules have been delayed as they make their way through the courts.



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