Tag: SEC Ethics

SEC Ethics Probe Points to Bigger Problem With Federal Tort Claims Act Immunity

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By Frank Francone. (Real Clear Policy). May 20, 2024

In his thought-provoking book, Skin in the Game, Nassim Taleb argues that when decision-makers bear the consequences of their actions, they tend to make better decisions.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to federal regulators. The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), exempts them from liability for all damages they inflict on Americans by intentional and demonstrably harmful acts.

This exemption – rooted in the hoary doctrine of the “divine right of kings” – gives no recourse to average citizens, feeds a culture of broad deference to federal agencies, and allows wrongdoing by high officials to be largely ignored. For institutions already suffering from plummeting public trust, this should not continue.

Consider, for example, the long series of poor decisions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies. For years, the SEC issued erratic, contradictory, and positively misleading guidance about the legal status of digital assets. Indeed, William Hinman, then the SEC Director of Corporation Finance, appears to have had serious conflicts of interest that may have caused him to mislead investors and fintech companies.

Read the full piece here: Real Clear Policy

CONFIRMED: SEC Inspector General in “Final Stages” of Investigation on Crypto Conflicts Referred by Empower Oversight

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By Empower Oversight. February 15, 2024.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed that its Office of Inspector General (OIG) is nearing the end of an investigation related to financial conflict of interest issues identified and referred to the OIG by Empower Oversight in May 2022. It’s the first acknowledgment of an open probe on the matter by the agency’s internal watchdog.

According to the SEC, “OIG has authorized us to inform you that OIG has an open investigation into the matter that they are in the final stages of completing.” Empower Oversight’s referral cited records it obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) raising serious questions about the failures of SEC’s Ethics Office and a senior SEC official, William Hinman, to ensure that he avoided participating in matters where he had a financial interest—including a controversial speech declaring that certain digital assets were not securities subject to SEC enforcement.

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Empower Oversight Requests SEC-OIG Conduct Investigation into the Failure of the SEC’s Ethics Office to Prevent Cryptocurrency Conflicts of Interest by Senior Staff

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By Empowr Oversight. May 10, 2022. (Empowr)

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight sent a letter to the Office of the Inspector General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC-OIG) requesting a comprehensive review of the SEC’s ethics officials to properly manage SEC official William Hinman’s potential conflict of interest regarding cryptocurrency issues. The letter describes in detail instructions that the SEC’s Ethics Office provided to Mr. Hinman and actions by Mr. Hinman that are inconsistent with the instructions.

Specifically, records that were disclosed to Empower Oversight in response to an August 12, 2021, FOIA request show that the SEC’s Ethics Office cautioned Mr. Hinman that he had a direct financial interest in his former law firm, Simpson Thacher, and thus, he needed to recuse himself from any matters that would affect the firm; and, lest he may have misunderstood its position, the Ethics Office explicitly told him not to have any contact with Simpson Thacher personnel. Further, the Ethics Office provided Mr. Hinman with a draft memorandum, which was to be issued under his name, that established a screening arrangement to ensure that he complied with his obligation to recuse himself from certain matters with which he had a financial interest, or a personal or business relationship.

Read the full article here.