Overview

• An SEC inspector general review found an automated enterprise wipe permanently erased texts from Oct. 18, 2022, to Sept. 6, 2023, after Gensler’s phone stopped syncing on July 6 and alerts went unheeded for weeks.
• The review determined that many of the deleted messages were mission-related exchanges with staff, fellow commissioners, and other senior officials.
• Four House committee chairs—French Hill, Ann Wagner, Dan Meuser, and Bryan Steil—formally notified SEC Chair Paul Atkins of an oversight investigation and requested details on the loss and compliance steps.
• Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal said a district court ordered all parties to appear on Oct. 8 to address the deletions, following Coinbase’s push for sanctions tied to the missing records.
• The SEC’s technology office acknowledged policy and management failures and outlined corrective measures, while Republicans note the agency collected over $400 million in FY2023 penalties for firms’ recordkeeping violations.