- Gurbir Grewal was the enforcement chief on the US Securities and Change Fee (SEC)
- He joins worldwide legislation agency Milbank as a associate in its litigation and arbitration apply
Brian Armstrong has mentioned that Coinbase received’t work with legislation corporations in the event that they rent individuals who labored in opposition to the crypto business throughout their time in authorities.
In a submit on X, Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, mentioned:
“It’s an ethics violation in my book to try and unlawfully kill an industry while refusing to publish clear rules. If you were senior there, you cannot say you were just following orders. They had the option to leave the SEC and many good people did. It was not a normal SEC tenure.”
Armstrong’s remarks come as Milbank, a global legislation agency, lately employed Gurbir S. Grewal as a associate in its New York workplace’s litigation and arbitration apply. Earlier than, Grewal was the US Securities and Change Fee’s (SEC) enforcement head.
Based on Armstrong, senior legislation companions look like unaware of how the crypto business feels about points akin to this, including that it not works with Milbank as a result of it employed Grewal.
“I don’t believe in permanently cancelling people, but we as an industry should not be putting money in their pocket after the abuse,” Armstrong wrote.
We have let all of the legislation corporations we work with know, that in the event that they rent anybody who dedicated these unhealthy deeds within the (quickly to be) prior administration, we’ll not be a consumer of theirs.
Senior companions at these legislation corporations appear unaware of the crypto business’s place on this.… https://t.co/k8R6NtfTV1 pic.twitter.com/RT0k408i9f
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 3, 2024
“Record of success”
Following his onboarding at Milbank, Scott A. Edelman, chair of Milbank, mentioned that Grewal had a “record of success” and that his expertise could be “extremely valuable” to Milbank’s shoppers.
As director of the SEC’s enforcement division, Grewal was accountable for overseeing investigations, enforcement motion, and litigation performed by the SEC. Throughout his time on the SEC, the company introduced over 100 enforcement actions focusing on non-compliance within the crypto house.
In 2022, Grewal mentioned that the SEC wouldn’t “give crypto a pass” and that it might be implementing guidelines it believes applies to crypto.
Outgoing SEC chair Gary Gensler mentioned that Grewal has led the division in pondering “about how to best protect investors and help ensure market participants comply with our time-tested securities laws.”
Gensler is to go away the SEC on January 20.