Dan Berkovitz, General Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced that he will step down.
In Berkovitz’s previous post, it was reported that he had dinner with Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
SEC’s General Counsel Resigns
Dan Berkovitz, General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will leave his post effective January 31.
According to the Washington Examiner’s report, Berkovitz was lobbied by Bankman-Fried just before joining the SEC. Berkovitz, who is known to be a hardliner on decentralized finance, reportedly met and dined with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in his previous tenure at the CFTC.
Berkovitz, who is leaving his post, stated in an SEC announcement:
Berkovitz joined the SEC in November 2021 after leaving his position as commissioner on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Megan Barbero, a former Department of Justice attorney who is the SEC Deputy General Counsel, will replace Berkovitz.