Robinhood Held Meeting with SEC Two Months Before Subpoena

The revelation has further triggered a backlash from industry players who bemoan the agency’s aggressive policies.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) met with the American trading platform Robinhood two months before issuing a subpoena to the exchange. The information was revealed in the October edition of the SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s public calendar.

The development, recently highlighted by Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, has further triggered a backlash from industry players who have bemoaned the SEC’s aggressive policies. These individuals have maintained that the SEC is allegedly more interested in enforcement actions than in providing proper regulatory clarity.

?NEW: The October edition of @GaryGensler's calendar is here. As pointed out by @digitalassetbuy, @RobinhoodApp's meeting was Oct 12th. 2 months later they received a crypto-related subpoena. Lots of media appearances and interviews this month as well. https://t.co/bpMDbcEhX6

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 28, 2023

According to the calendar, Gensler held a meeting with members of the Robinhood team on Oct. 12, including Vlad Teneve, CEO of Robinhood; Dan Gallagher, Robinhood’s Chief Legal Officer; and Steve Quirk, Chief Brokerage Officer, among several others.

Two months later, Robinhood received a subpoena from the SEC shortly after the FTX blowout, as revealed in the company’s latest 10-k filing with the regulatory agency. Numerous individuals have questioned why the SEC could not provide clarity or guidance to Robinhood during the meeting in October.

‘”Come in and talk” = No guidance on ‘compliance’ will be provided. Lawsuit will follow,’ the team behind Crypto Law sarcastically remarked in a tweet, commenting on the recent disclosure. Crypto Law is a crypto and legal media outlet founded by attorney John Deaton.

"Come in and talk" = No guidance on 'compliance' will be provided.

Lawsuit will follow.

(Unless you are @SBF_FTX.)

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) February 28, 2023

Recall that Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, expressed a similar stance last month after the SEC’s charge against Gemini over its Earn program. The SEC claimed that Gemini should have registered the program with the agency. Responding to the development, Winklevoss highlighted that the program is already registered with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). He further revealed that he had been in talks with the SEC over the program for up to 17 months, but the watchdog never highlighted any need for further regulatory compliance.

Amid these complaints of a lack of clarity, Gensler insists that the crypto industry already knows what to do to comply with regulations, but some entities are willingly violating the provisions.