By Asia Samachar | United States |
Gurbir Singh Grewal has left the job of enforcement division director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where he was policing Wall Street misdeeds.
Gurbir joined the regulator in July 2021 to lead the SEC’s 1,500-person enforcement unit after serving as New Jersey attorney general. He made history as the first Sikh American to hold both positions.
“Today was a difficult day; so incredibly privileged to have served with such a dedicated group of public servants and proud of all that we’ve accomplished together on behalf of investors. But I’m really looking forward to the next chapter,” Gurbir shared on his LinkedIn account.
He will leave Oct 11, 2024, the agency announced on Wednesday (Oct 2).
Gurbir, who oversaw a stepped-up period of enforcement against Wall Street and the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry, was little-known on Wall Street when he was appointed in 2021. There, he became known for advocating for bigger fines against securities law violators and for taking a tough stance on cryptocurrency, which he cast as a new form of the same activity the SEC had regulated for decades, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
In the SEC statement, Chair Gary Gensler said: “We have been incredibly fortunate that such an accomplished public servant, Gurbir Grewal, came to the SEC to lead the Division of Enforcement for the last three years. Every day, he has thought about how to best protect investors and help ensure market participants comply with our time-tested securities laws. He has led a Division that has acted without fear or favor, following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. I greatly enjoyed working with him and wish him well.”
As Enforcement Director, the statement noted that Gurbir prioritized restoring investor trust and confidence in the financial markets by emphasizing proactive enforcement initiatives and working to create a culture of compliance among market participants.
To that end, the Division recalibrated remedies so they were viewed as more than simply the cost of doing business and provided meaningful specific and general deterrence to wrongdoers, and the Division moved with urgency to address emerging risk areas.
Under Gurbir’s leadership, it said the division also prioritized holding insiders, industry professionals, and gatekeepers accountable for their securities law violations, rooting out fraudulent conduct, enforcing disclosure and recordkeeping requirements, and enforcing whistleblower protections.
At the same time, he redoubled efforts to promote self-policing, self-reporting, and remediation by market participants through, among other things, highlighting the benefits of cooperation in the Commission’s public orders and in his public statements.
During Mr. Grewal’s tenure, it said the Division of Enforcement recommended, and the commission authorized, more than 2,400 enforcement matters resulting in orders for more than US$20 billion in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties, more than 340 industry bars against individuals, more than US$1 billion in awards to whistleblowers, and the return of billions of dollars to harmed investors.
For example, under his leadership, it said the division recommended and the commission authorized more than 100 enforcement actions addressing widespread noncompliance in the quickly growing crypto space, including against the operators of the largest crypto asset trading platforms in the world and the operator of the largest crypto asset trading platform in the United States for depriving investors of crucial investor protections by not complying with the registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
Further, the division brought a number of enforcement matters to protect investors in private funds from market manipulation and misleading or inadequate disclosures and controls regarding conflicts of interest and fees and valuation.
The Division also prioritized rooting out insider trading. The SEC brought enforcement actions in a wide range of situations where insiders abused access to material non-public information (MNPI), including so-called classic insider trading as well as the first trial finding a defendant liable for insider trading in the shares of a peer company. The SEC also brought actions addressing fraud in block trading and against firms for failing to maintain policies designed to prevent misuse of MNPI.
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US SEC names New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Singh Grewal as enforcement director (Asia Samachar, 30 June 2021)
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