Nikolas Sargeant
Gurbir Grewal, the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement chief, will step down on October 11 after a three-year term, the agency announced Wednesday. Sanjay Wadhwa, currently the division's deputy director, will assume the role of acting director, while Sam Waldon, the division's chief counsel, will become acting deputy director.
Grewal's tenure saw the SEC initiate more than 2,400 enforcement actions, resulting in over $20 billion in penalties and disgorgement. His leadership also led to Wall Street bans for over 340 individuals and the distribution of more than $1 billion to whistleblowers.
The cryptocurrency industry faced particular scrutiny under Grewal, with the SEC launching over 100 enforcement actions in this sector. In 2023, these actions yielded approximately $4.9 billion in crypto-related fines.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R., Minn.), a critic of the SEC's crypto regulation approach, expressed satisfaction with Grewal's departure, stating on X, "SEC Director of Enforcement Grewal encouraged lawlessness and chaos at @GaryGensler's SEC...Good to see him packing his bags."
Defending SEC's Crypto Regulation Approach
Grewal consistently upheld the regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies set by SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who advocates for applying U.S. securities laws to many cryptocurrency trading and exchanges.
At a 2022 SEC conference, Grewal defended this position, stating, "critics are upset because we're not giving crypto a pass from the application of well-established regulations and precedents."
The SEC pursued actions against major crypto firms like Binance, Coinbase, and Ripple Labs during Grewal's tenure. However, the agency faced a setback when a judge dismissed a key part of its case against Ripple last year, leading to an SEC appeal.
