SEC general counsel Dan Berkovitz to step down
- December 23, 2022
Inbar Preiss, The Block
Securities and Exchanges Commission general counsel Dan Berkovitz will step down effective Jan. 31. While known as a decentralized finance hardliner, reports indicate that in his previous role at the CFTC he met and dined with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Berkovitz was lobbied by Bankman-Fried just before joining the SEC, the Washington Examiner reported. Bankman-Fried currently faces a prison sentence of as much as 115 years stemming from an eight-count indictment.
“After thirty-four years of public service, it is time for me to pursue new and different challenges and opportunities,” Berkovitz said in an SEC announcement. He joined the SEC in November 2021 after leaving his role as a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Megan Barbero, a former Department of Justice attorney who is currently the SEC’s principal deputy general counsel, will take his place.