The US Securities and Exchange Commission has incorporated new offices into its Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP). The regulator announced the move in its recent press release. According to the SEC, the new offices to be incorporated are an office of crypto assets, industrial applications, and services.
SEC revealed that the DRP has long “had offices to review company filings by issuers.” However, it maintained that the newly introduced offices will join the “seven existing offices that provide focused review of issuer filings and that are grouped by industry experts to further the Division’s work to promote capital formation and protect investors.” According to the regulator, “the DRP anticipates the new offices will be established later this fall.”
SEC added that the office of crypto assets would be mandated to take over reviewing filings involving crypto assets that are initially performed across the DRP. The US regulator is optimistic that “assigning companies and filings to one office will enable the DRP to focus its resources and expertise better to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.”
The US regulator says the office of industrial applications and services will be responsible for “non-pharma, non-biotech, and non-medicinal products companies currently assigned to the Office of Life Sciences.” According to the SEC, the life sciences sphere has recently witnessed remarkable development, thereby increasing the number of filings and companies assigned to the office. Now, it says, “transitioning a subset of these companies to a separate group will allow the DRP staff to build specialized expertise in this space better.”
According to Renee Jones, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, SEC has discovered the need to avail more robust and specialized support in “the DRP’s office of finance and its Office of Life Sciences owing to the rapid growth in the crypto sphere and the life sciences industries.
He further said that “the creation of these new offices will enable the DRP to enhance its focus in the areas of crypto assets, financial institutions, life sciences, and industrial applications and services and facilitate our ability to meet our mission.”
SEC’s lingering tussle with Ripple
This development by SEC comes amidst its ongoing legal tussle with Ripple, a provider of crypto solutions. The legal battle began two years ago after the regulator indicted Ripple of raising $1.3 billion by selling unlicensed securities to investors.
The SEC filed an action against Ripple and its executives as a reaction. Shortly after, Ripple challenged the regulator’s powers to monitor its activities. It argued that XRP is never security and the SEC’s unlawful move to check its activities. With different dimensions arising from the case in recent times, it is unlikely that the brawl will end soon.
