US SEC Chair Accused of Stonewalling by House Financial Services Committee Chair

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, Gary Gensler, has been accused of avoiding requests for information about cryptocurrency-related matters. The House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the SEC, has held several crypto hearings this year. In one of these hearings, Committee Chair Patrick T. McHenry asked Gensler whether ether was a security or a commodity, which he said depended on certain circumstances.

The Accusations

Reps. McHenry and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., sent a letter to Gensler this week demanding responses to questions about former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and about the process of digital asset exchanges registering with the regulator. McHenry accused Gensler of stonewalling and threatened to schedule a hearing if they don’t hear back soon. Huizenga also tweeted, stating that they are tired of the stonewalling from the SEC and that they will make sure someone from Gensler’s staff responds to their questions if he won’t.

The Requests

The committee sent a letter asking for a list of digital asset entities that have tried to register since Gensler became chair, as well as how that process works. McHenry and Huizenga said they didn’t get a response. They also asked about the charges against Bankman-Fried back in February to which Gensler produced 232 pages of documents. Later on, in March, SEC staff sent a general briefing about the agency’s enforcement division.

Deadline

McHenry and Huizenga want Gensler to respond to their questions by May 19. If not, they said they plan to schedule testimony. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In summary, the House Financial Services Committee Chair accused the US SEC Chair of stonewalling and avoiding requests for information about cryptocurrency-related matters. The Committee is demanding responses to questions about former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and about the process of digital asset exchanges registering with the regulator. The SEC has until May 19 to respond, or the Committee plans to schedule a hearing.