Congress Invites SEC In for a Lecture

SEC Enforcement Head Asks Congress for More Resources to Tackle Crypto Issues

Several subcommittee members brought up the possibility of expanding the SEC Enforcement Division’s allocated resources. When Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) asked Grewal whether his unit had sufficient resources to regulate crypto, Grewal hinted at a potentially massive expansion on the horizon.“

I could always use more resources but we’re making the best with the additional 20 slots and then we’re hopeful to get the 125 additional slots we’ve asked for,” Grewal said.

It’s currently unclear whether the 125 additional employees, if approved, will be spread across the entire Division of Enforcement or just the crypto unit.

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Takes Advantage of the Crypto Crash to Expand His Empire

In all, Bankman-Fried committed about $1 billion, a staggering sum to be risking—even for someone worth $10 billion—in the midst of a crypto rout that’s wiped out $2 trillion in market value in only eight months. To his legions of hardcore fans, this is further proof that SBF, as they all call him, is the patron of crypto, a benevolent, deep-pocketed investor and philanthropist who’s defending the industry in its time of greatest need.

Perhaps. An alternative interpretation is that Bankman-Fried’s wheeling and dealing have revealed the full scope of his plans to dominate the crypto industry. Just like other financial barons before him—John Pierpont Morgan a century ago and Warren Buffett in modern times—he’s exploiting the bad fortune of rivals to expand his empire on the cheap. And if there’s an element of saving the industry to the bailouts he’s arranging, it’s because the crisis, if big enough, will ultimately imperil his core businesses, too.

Twitter-Musk Trial Set for October in Lawsuit Over Stalled $44 Billion Takeover

Twitter Inc. won its first legal fight against Elon Musk on Tuesday when a Delaware judge granted the company’s request to fast-track its lawsuit seeking to compel the world’s richest person to complete his $44 billion purchase of the social-media site.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court, ordered a five-day trial in October, over Mr. Musk’s objections. Chancellor McCormick said the case should be resolved quickly, agreeing with Twitter’s claim that it could be harmed by uncertainty about its future as a public company.

“Those concerns are on full display in the present case,” Chancellor McCormick said. “Typically, the longer the merger transaction remains in limbo, the larger the cloud of uncertainty cast over the company and the greater the risk of irreparable harm to the sellers.”

SEC Issues More than $17 Million Award to a Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $17 million to a whistleblower who provided information and assistance in a covered action and related action.

The whistleblower’s information prompted SEC staff to open a new investigation that led to the successful covered action. The whistleblower also provided SEC Enforcement staff with detailed information and documents throughout the investigation. Further, because the same information led to the success of the related action, the whistleblower is also entitled to an award based on amounts collected in the related action.