U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and a fellow Republican on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee are frustrated with what they call insufficient efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to comply with their document request related to charges the agency filed against Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now bankrupt FTX, which formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund.
The congressman joined committee chairman U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) in calling on SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to provide a staff recommendation memo and other information related to the charges filed against Bankman-Fried. The House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction to oversee the activities of the SEC pursuant to Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, according to an April 12 letter they sent to Gensler.
In it, the lawmakers noted that the information they received in March and April from the SEC in response to their February request was inadequate.
“Unfortunately, your commitment in [your April 11] letter to “continue [the] ongoing review of commission records and supplement the production of responsive materials and information, as appropriate” is insufficient,” wrote Rep. Huizenga and his colleague.
Likewise, the lawmakers wrote, a March staff-level briefing on the SEC enforcement process “was not responsive to anything requested in the letter;” nor were the 232 pages of documents provided by Gensler’s staff after the briefing, they wrote.
“We expect the staff recommendation memo to be produced immediately and all other material gathered as a result of the narrowed scope to be produced no later than 5 p.m. on April 17,” wrote the members. “Failure to produce the requested information could result in the Committee considering using compulsory process, if necessary, to obtain the requested information.”