Media: SEC General Counsel Dan Berkowitz to leave agency due to FTX scandal

Personnel changes in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were provoked by a journalistic investigation about informal ties between an official and the head of the bankrupt FTX exchange. Dan Berkovitz has decided to step down from his position at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a Washington Examiner article alleges that a senior official had dinner with Sam Bankman-Fried and other top managers of FTX on the eve of the collapse of the exchange, in October 2022. According to an official statement, Dan Berkowitz will leave his position on January 31st. “Shortly before the collapse of FTX and a slew of fraud allegations, Sam Bankman-Fried and his gang were no doubt cajoling one of their would-be regulators into trying to manipulate the rules to their advantage,” the Washington Examiner article says. Journalists are wondering if the US authorities can do anything about a clear manifestation of a conflict of interest, besides allowing Berkowitz to resign. After all, the media are outraged, what happened could mean that the SEC was “looking the other way” by allowing FTX to rip people off. According to Washington Examiner journalists, the dinner party participants gathered in a luxurious restaurant to discuss the regulation of the crypto industry.. In addition to Berkowitz, the meeting also included the CEO of cryptocurrency firm Ledger X, Zach Dexter, and former FTX CEO, former CFTC Commissioner Mark Wetjen, who joined FTX as Head of Regulatory Policy and Strategy, and Michelle Bond (Michelle Bond), CEO of the Digital Asset Markets Association. According to Reuters, Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to formally plead guilty next week to criminal charges of defrauding investors and embezzling client funds.