The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will see a changing of the guard in its enforcement division as Gurbir Grewal, the division’s director for the past three years, will depart the agency on Oct. 11. SEC Deputy Director Sanjay Wadhwa will move into the position of acting director.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler praised Grewal’s leadership, noting his dedication to protecting investors and ensuring compliance with securities laws in an agency press release. He also expressed confidence in Wadhwa’s ability to lead the agency until a new enforcement director is appointed.
“We have been incredibly fortunate that such an accomplished public servant, Gurbir Grewal, came to the SEC to lead the division of enforcement for the last three years,” Gensler said. “Every day, he has thought about how to best protect investors and help ensure market participants comply with our time-tested securities laws. He has led a division that has acted without fear or favor, following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. I greatly enjoyed working with him and wish him well.”
Grewal recalled the enforcement division’s accomplishments under his leadership, including recalibrating penalties, addressing emerging risks, and holding insiders and gatekeepers accountable for securities law violations.
“While we have faced and overcome many challenges over the last three plus years, there has been one constant throughout: the public servants of the enforcement division stand ready to do everything they can to protect investors and market integrity,” Grewal said. “Their expertise, professionalism, and dedication are, indeed, unparalleled, and it has been the privilege of a lifetime to have been able to call them colleagues. From recalibrating penalties and remedies to confronting emerging risks to holding issuers, insiders, and gatekeepers accountable, I am incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished as a division during my tenure.”
The enforcement division recommended more than 2,400 enforcement actions during Grewel’s tenure, resulting in more than $20 billion in penalties and disgorgements. These included more than 100 enforcement actions addressing widespread noncompliance in the cryptocurrency marketplace, including against the operators of the largest crypto asset trading platform in the world and the largest in the U.S. The division also secured over $1 billion in whistleblower awards and returned billions to harmed investors.
Wadhwa has 21 years of relevant experience and has served as the enforcement division’s deputy director since August 2021, working closely alongside Grewal to execute the SEC’s enforcement agenda and to further the agency’s mission to protect investors.
Sam Waldon, the enforcement division’s chief counsel, will step into Wadhwa’s role. Waldon has been the division’s chief counsel since March 2022, having previously served as a partner with the law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.