• Gurbir Grewal was the enforcement chief on the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC)
• He joins worldwide legislation agency Milbank as a companion in its litigation and arbitration apply

Brian Armstrong has mentioned that Coinbase received’t work with legislation companies in the event that they rent individuals who labored towards the crypto business throughout their time in authorities.

In a publish on X, Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, mentioned:

“It’s an ethics violation in my book to try and unlawfully kill an industry while refusing to publish clear rules. If you were senior there, you cannot say you were just following orders. They had the option to leave the SEC and many good people did. It was not a normal SEC tenure.”

Armstrong’s remarks come as Milbank, a world legislation agency, not too long ago employed Gurbir S. Grewal as a companion in its New York workplace’s litigation and arbitration apply. Earlier than, Grewal was the US Securities and Trade Fee’s (SEC) enforcement head.

Based on Armstrong, senior legislation companions look like unaware of how the crypto business feels about points akin to this, including that it not works with Milbank as a result of it employed Grewal.

“I don’t believe in permanently cancelling people, but we as an industry should not be putting money in their pocket after the abuse,” Armstrong wrote.

We have let all of the legislation companies we work with know, that in the event that they rent anybody who dedicated these dangerous deeds within the (quickly to be) prior administration, we are going to not be a consumer of theirs.

Senior companions at these legislation companies appear unaware of the crypto business’s place on this.… https://t.co/k8R6NtfTV1 pic.twitter.com/RT0k408i9f

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 3, 2024

“Record of success”

Following his onboarding at Milbank, Scott A. Edelman, chair of Milbank, mentioned that Grewal had a “record of success” and that his expertise could be “extremely valuable” to Milbank’s purchasers.

As director of the SEC’s enforcement division, Grewal was liable for overseeing investigations, enforcement motion, and litigation carried out by the SEC. Throughout his time on the SEC, the company introduced over 100 enforcement actions focusing on non-compliance within the crypto area.

In 2022, Grewal mentioned that the SEC wouldn’t “give crypto a pass” and that it might be implementing guidelines it believes applies to crypto.

Outgoing SEC chair Gary Gensler mentioned that Grewal has led the division in pondering “about how to best protect investors and help ensure market participants comply with our time-tested securities laws.”

Gensler is to go away the SEC on January 20.