US SEC names New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Singh Grewal as enforcement director

By Asia Samachar | UNITED STATES |

Gurbir Singh Grewal, one of New Jersey’s longest-serving attorneys general who made history as the first Sikh American to hold the position, has been tapped by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The 48-year old will lead the agency’s enforcement division that polices markets. This is definitely another first for the Sikh community.Grewal currently serves as Attorney General for the State of New Jersey, a role he has held since January 2018, when he was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate after being nominated by Governor Phil Murphy.

“I’m honored and delighted to welcome Attorney General Grewal to the SEC,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement. “He has had a distinguished career as New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer and as a prosecutor at both the local and federal levels. He has the ideal combination of experience, values, and leadership ability to helm the Enforcement Division at this critical time. I look forward to working closely with him to protect investors and root out wrongdoing in our markets.”

The appointment puts in place a well-known public sector figure to police Wall Street misdeeds, reports Politico.com.

During his tenure in Trenton, Grewal made a name for himself by suing the Trump administration dozens of times, including frequent legal barrages against the federal Environmental Protection Agency, reports NorthJersey.com.

He also took to court firearms vendors who sold high-capacity ammunition magazines to New Jersey residents despite a state ban. And he enacted a cascade of police reforms meant to overhaul the way the Garden State’s 38,000 cops do their jobs, it added.

“The Enforcement Division has a critical role to play in finding and punishing violations of the law,” said Grewal in the same statement. “I’m excited to get to work with the talented team of public servants to uncover and prosecute misconduct and protect investors. I thank Governor Murphy for the opportunity to serve the people of New Jersey and all of the colleagues with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work during my career in the state.”

As New Jersey’s Attorney General, Grewal heads the Department of Law & Public Safety, which employs more than 3,700 uniformed officers, 750 lawyers, and thousands of additional public servants, including investigators, regulators, and administrative staff. Before becoming Attorney General, Grewal served as Bergen County Prosecutor, the chief law enforcement office of New Jersey’s most populous county.

His appointment at Bergen County made him the first Sikh county prosecutor in the state and the first of South Asian descent. What made the appointment more interesting was that Gurbir, a Democrat, was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican.

Earlier in his career, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he served as Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit from 2014 to 2016 and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of all major white collar and cybercrimes in the District of New Jersey.

He also previously served as an AUSA in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he was assigned to the Business and Securities Fraud Unit. Grewal worked in private practice from 1999-2004 and from 2008-2010.

Grewal graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1995. He obtained his law degree from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1999.

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