The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Acting Enforcement Director Marc P. Berger led high-profile enforcement actions against cryptocurrency ICOs.
- Marc P. Berger is Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
- He played a major role in the SEC enforcement against Ripple Labs.
- He is leaving the agency this month.
Though Berger’s time in the top position was short, it bears at least one major highlight: the SEC’s $1.3 billion lawsuit against Ripple Labs, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen.
SEC Files $1.3 Billion Lawsuit against XRP Creator Ripple
The US Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the company that created XRP, as well as co-founder Christian Larsen and incumbent CEO Brad Garlinghouse. T…
Ripple was invented by Ripple founders Larsen, Arthur Britto, and Jed McCaleb, as well as current Ripple CTO David Schwartz. It aims to be a cryptocurrency enabling banks to more efficiently transfer money. But according to the SEC, Larsen and Garlinghouse sold XRP given to them by the company in order to get rich. The SEC also alleges that Ripple paid companies to use XRP and, therefore, prop up the price.
The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on December 22, sent XRP’s price into a spiral. On December 21, the asset traded for as high as $0.55. It’s now at $0.29 and has been dropped by several exchanges, such as Coinbase.
In addition to ICO-related enforcement actions, Berger also played a role in enforcing securities laws and protecting investors, including by taking actions against prominent firms Robinhood Financial LLC, Deutsche Bank AG, and Luckin Coffee.
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Things are in flux at the SEC as the federal government transitions from a Trump presidency to a Biden administration on January 20. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name former Commodities and Futures Trading Commision Chair Gary Gensler to fill the role of SEC chair; Jay Clayton stepped down in December.
The SEC has not yet named a new enforcement director.