Three committee chairs in the United States House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee chair James Comer, and Financial Services Committee chair Patrick McHenry, have sent a letter to SEC chair Gary Gensler calling for a more satisfactory response to their previous inquiry regarding the agency’s compliance with recordkeeping requirements. The congressmen expressed dissatisfaction with Gensler’s response, stating that it did not directly address their requests for certification of federal recordkeeping adherence, transparency rules, and the non-use of private email accounts for official business.
The letter, dated June 28, also cited inconsistencies in Gensler’s publicly accessible meeting schedules in 2021. The committee chairs reiterated their original requests and asked Gensler to explain the factual and legal basis for any noncompliance. This action comes in response to a Wall Street Journal report highlighting inadequate recordkeeping practices by government officials, comparing them to those for which Wall Street groups were recently fined by the SEC.
Blockchain Association Calls for Gensler’s Recusal
In addition, the Blockchain Association released a paper arguing that Gensler should recuse himself from digital asset enforcement decisions. The paper claimed that Gensler has already formed biased opinions on all digital assets except Bitcoin, categorizing them as unregistered securities. It emphasized the importance of avoiding even the appearance of bias in agency decision-making and reminded recipients of Wells notices that they have the option to seek Gensler’s recusal through the SEC or federal court.
This development raises concerns about Gensler’s impartiality in regulating the digital asset industry, as some believe he has prematurely labeled digital assets as securities without proper rulemaking. The unresolved question of whether and when a digital asset represents a “security” remains a key issue for the industry.
As the U.S. House committee chairs and the Blockchain Association intensify their scrutiny of SEC Chair Gensler, it remains to be seen how this will impact the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies and digital assets.