SEC Director Vows ‘More Substantial’ Enforcement Against Illegal ICOs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is an independent agency of the United States federal government. The agency is responsible for protecting investors, maintaining the fair and orderly functioning of securities markets and facilitating capital formation. The co-director of enforcement at SEC, Stephanie Avakian, stated that the agency is going to be more strict and is finding remedies for a proper functioning of the ICOs.

The co-director mentioned that agency is recommending “more substantial remedies” against those who fail to follow proper initial coin offering (ICO) registration requirements in the future. She further mentioned there would be a specific set of principals that guide the agency’s decision-making with regulation and also shared that SEC was tackling in “misconduct” in the ICO and virtual asset space.

Avarkian further added in the speech that “novelty of ICOs” and the possible “utility of the underlying blockchain” makes these types of offerings exciting for certain investors.

Avarkian states that the SEC is aware and conscious about how to deal with ICOs registration cases that are not fraudulent. The agency wants to affirm valid ways to raise money while still making sure investors can enjoy the legal protections already in place. SEC has issued public statements to inform investors about regarding activity on the ICO space, the rise in ICO promotion by celebrities and other public figures were also highlighted. Any issue related to ICOs and crypto assets must be in the crosshairs of the Divison of Enforcement, cyber-related issues was already “paying dividends.”

The proposed ETF has made headlines since it would hold actual bitcoin in lieu of virtual currency futures contracts, and would maintain “comprehensive insurance” to safeguard investors against loss or theft of the bitcoin.

Recently SEC commissioner Hester Peirce who is now referred as “CryptoMom,” also favoured the use of cryptocurrency as it holds the potential to bring change and the SEC should not hold back from the new products coming out of the new technology.