Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, took the stage this morning at the Practising Law Institute’s annual securities conference, likely for the very last time.
The address sounded like a parting shot from a man who knows he’s near the end of his time. With Trump on his way back into office, it’s pretty much certain Gensler’s reign is up, and he used his moment to lay out exactly what he’s done—and tried to do—at the SEC, especially in crypto.
“It’s a remarkable agency,” he said. “It’s been a great honor to serve with them, doing the people’s work, and ensuring that our capital markets remain the best in the world.” The guy’s been at the SEC since 2021, and let’s just say, yeah he made the most of it.
Gensler’s crypto crackdown
Crypto and Gensler have never been on the same side of the table. From the get-go, he’s made it clear he thinks most digital assets should be treated as securities. “Our focus has been on some of the 10,000 or so other digital assets, many of which courts have ruled were offered or sold as securities,” he said.
Bitcoin gets a pass, but he sees almost every other crypto as falling under SEC oversight. Selling securities? Register with the SEC. Running an exchange? Register. Broker-dealer? Yep, register. This is a guy who sees crypto as just another corner of finance that needs a cop on the beat.
He’s called out the “significant investor harm” he believes has come from the crypto industry’s wild, regulation-free attitude, and doesn’t buy that most projects in there even have a sustainable use case. “The vast majority of crypto assets have yet to prove out sustainable use cases,” he pointed out, laying it all out on the line.
Under his watch, the SEC chased down more crypto projects than they did under his predecessor, Jay Clayton. Former SEC chief counsel David Lynn said, though, that the legal approach under both Gensler and Clayton was pretty similar — so Gensler was not exactly reinventing the wheel.
But it’s a new era, and with Trump back in power, Gensler knows his hard-line approach to crypto is probably out the door with him. Trump’s already fired shots at Gensler’s crackdown on the industry, with a promise to send Gensler packing on day one. Pretty sure no one in the community is exactly heartbroken about that.
A mixed bag of accomplishments
Gensler spent part of his speech ticking off his accomplishments. He didn’t pull punches about the changes he’s made to market structure and disclosure rules, listing off new mandates for executive pay transparency, data breach disclosures, and added transparency for anyone looking to buy more than 5% of a company.
In short, he’s been pushing for more disclosure across the board, a move that’s won him supporters and haters alike. He only briefly touched on his most contentious disclosure rule—climate change—which is wrapped up in lawsuits and has the business world split.
This rule would force companies to reveal their carbon emissions and climate risks, a decision he says helps investors make smarter choices. “Congress put in place important provisions about disclosure because information about securities creates a public good,” said Gensler.
His push for climate disclosure has gained some applause from green investors and activists who want more transparency. But others, like farmers and smaller businesses, slammed it as overreach, calling it an impossible burden for anyone supplying publicly listed companies.
Republican SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s take? “We are not the Securities and Environment Commission.” Another one of Gensler’s actions on market structure was implementing new rules for central clearing of Treasuries and shortening the stock settlement cycle from two days to just one.
He even pushed for allowing stocks to be quoted in less than one-penny increments—a small but impactful tweak to the system. Under Gensler’s watch, the SEC also set up an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) enforcement task force, which, ironically, was disbanded shortly after.
But he kept pushing ESG rules, making it easier for shareholders with small stakes to vote on big social issues. This saw a spike in activist proposals, from both the left and the right, and it’s no surprise it stirred up companies who felt bombarded with shareholder petitions.
Changing of the Guard
Gensler’s not naive; he knows his time’s probably up, and a lot of his policies could be upended or buried. His SEC term technically runs until 2026, but in practice, SEC chairs usually step down when a new administration comes in. And Gensler seems to get that this time around won’t be any different.
“Traditionally, presidents get to decide who chairs the SEC and that’s a good part of democracy,” he admitted to a reporter last month. He wasn’t giving much away, but his comments suggested he knows the game.
Behind the scenes though, there’s plenty of work happening at the SEC, with 1,500 active investigations underway, as Sanjay Wadhwa, the acting head of enforcement, noted. “We don’t put pencils down and say, ‘Well, let’s just wait for the new folks on the 10th floor,’” Wadhwa explained. For Gensler, the work is continuous and has to outlast whoever’s at the helm.
He came to the SEC with a long career behind him. A former Goldman Sachs banker and a Clinton administration veteran, he also led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Obama. He’s no stranger to Washington, and it shows.
Known for mixing a tough regulatory stance with a quirky sense of humor, Gensler’s shown up to public events talking about everything from his love of rom-coms to how he sees AI issues through the lens of popular movies. But beneath the jokes, there was a hard-edged regulator who’s turned the SEC into a powerhouse, at least on his watch.
Additional reporting by Noor Bazmi
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