SEC chair Gensler offered to serve as an advisor to Binance in 2019: Lawyers claim

Years before serving as head of the SEC, Gary Gensler offered up his advisory services to Binance, the exchange’s lawyers allege.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler once offered to serve as an advisor to Binance in 2019, according to lawyers representing Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao, CNBC reports. 

In documents filed by the SEC on June 7, attorneys from Gibson & Dunn and Latham & Watkins allege that Gensler offered to serve as an advisor to the exchange in several conversations with Binance executives, including Zhao in March 2019.

Gensler was nominated by U.S. president Joe Biden to serve as chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2021 and was later sworn into office on April 17, 2021. 

Related: SEC’s Gensler claims ‘parallels’ between Binance and FTX, yet one wasn’t sued

Prior to joining the SEC, he was a professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. From 2017-2019, he served as chair of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.