SEC General Counsel Dan Berkovitz to Step Down in January 2023

The US Securities and Alternate Fee introduced that Dan Berkovitz will step down from his Basic Counsel place as of the top of January 2023.

The present SEC Principal Deputy Basic Counsel – Megan Barbero – will exchange Berkovitz upon his departure.

• SEC Chair Gary Gensler mentioned he was “grateful” for Berkovitz’s “distinctive public service and his dedication to this company” within the official announcement earlier than including,

“Dan has led the Workplace of Basic Counsel throughout a time by which we’ve proposed vital reforms all through the capital markets. His counsel, judgment, and management have been invaluable to our work on the SEC. I’ve been blessed to work with Dan at two nice market regulators, and I congratulate him for his 34 years in public service.”

• Berkovitz occupied the place for a little bit over a yr after serving because the CFTC Commissioner for 3 years (from 2018 to 2021).
• He famous that his departure from the SEC was as a result of it was time for him to “pursue new and completely different challenges and alternatives.”
• Though it might not be straight associated, Berkovitz just lately had dinner at a luxurious Indian restaurant in Washington DC with a number of FTX execs, together with the now-disgraced former CEO – Sam Bankman-Fried, according to emails seen by the Washington Examiner.
• The small print of the dialog are nonetheless unclear, however the emails reveal that the invoice was coated by FTX Basic Counsel Ryne Miller, who then requested for $50 from Berkovitz.
• The previous crypto trade large was recognized for having heat relationships with a number of US watchdogs earlier than its loud collapse in October. Curiously, the dinner occurred simply days earlier than FTX filed for chapter.

“If ever there have been a scene to conjure up a imaginative and prescient of a D.C. rigged towards corrupt insiders on the expense of the little man, it could be tough to high this one. Not lengthy earlier than its collapse and a raft of fraud prices, SBF and his gang had been wooing one in every of their would-be regulators little question to attempt to manipulate the laws to their benefit.” – commented Michael Chamberlain, director of Defend the Public’s Belief.

Featured Picture Courtesy of WSJ