The current U.S. SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, has become a highly controversial figure over the last couple of months. According to some, he is said to be a career bureaucrat who actually has no idea about regulation. The crypto scene around the largest U.S. exchange, Coinbase, accuses the SEC under Gensler of not bringing about proper regulation and only acting via enforcement regulation. On Change.org, a group of retail investors has started a petition titled “Fire Gary Gensler as SEC Chairman for obstruction of justice.”
In particular, the petition claims that the SEC Chair would be complicit in criminal activities perpetrated by Citadel Securities and Citadel Market Maker, the market maker in naked short selling and dark pool abuse.
The petition reads, “Mr. Gensler is guilty of obstruction of justice due to his lack of enforcement of the laws pertaining to naked short selling and lack of competent oversight of market maker activities. Due to Mr. Gensler’s crimes, millions of retail investors were defrauded of countless MILLIONS of dollars. I’m referring to working class, middle class and poor folks as well as institutional investors. Mr. Gensler needs to step down as the chairman, and a thorough, detailed , forensic analysis and investigation into Citadel Securities and Citadel Market Maker. This cannot go unpunished. Rise up and sign!“
As of 1 August 2022, more than 15,000 people have signed the petition. The next goal is 25,000.