Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Hester Peirce has criticized her agency’s approach to regulating the industry, calling controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidelines a “noxious weed.”
At a two-day “SEC Speaks” event sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute, Republican members singled out Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 for ‘secret garden,’ — what she was referring to was “a maze of employee guidelines that serve to define practices across the securities industry in a way that makes it impossible to easily read a rulebook.”
Peirce pointed out, as he usually does in public speeches, that his views are his own and not those of the SEC.
“No one can object to this order because it is not the agency’s final action,” Peirce said Tuesday. “However, compliance is mandatory for anyone seeking to avoid the SEC’s delays, denials, enforcement and investigative scrutiny.” “So everyone quietly follows. Since I gave that speech, a particularly noxious weed has grown in that secret garden. That’s Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 and related verbal instructions.”
Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (also known as SAB 121), released in March 2022, requires companies that store cryptocurrency to record customers’ cryptocurrency holdings as liabilities on their balance sheets. The bulletin has sparked controversy over the past year amid concerns in the cryptocurrency industry that it could hinder banks from storing digital assets. member of Congress advanced A resolution passed by the National Assembly last month to repeal this gazette. watchdog The SEC said it needs congressional approval before moving forward with SAB 121.
“The bottom line is that rules with such far-reaching effects should be set by the entire committee, not by staff reporting only to the chair,” Peirce said.
SEC Participation
Peirce also spoke generally on Tuesday about the “declining real commission engagement with the public.” When people and groups visit the SEC for feedback, concerns and questions, they too often encounter “crickets,” Peirce said.
SEC officials don’t have the bandwidth, Peirce said.
“But the root of the problem is that the committee does not allow staff to suggest anything more than a shrug, silence, amble, and sigh,” Peirce added. “The culture at the top of the SEC has changed, and that has led to changes across the institution in how we interact with the public.”
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.