SEC Salt Lake Office Shut Down: Coinbase Lawyer Slams “Attrition” Claim

• The SEC announces the closure of its Salt Lake Regional Office (SLRO), citing a significant attrition.
• The move follows the SEC’s failure in the Debt Box case, where the judge accused the agency of bad faith conduct.
• Paul Grewal criticizes the use of the term attrition, asking whether it refers to the judge’s unprecedented sanctions.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced the closure of its Salt Lake Regional Office (SLRO), citing “significant attrition.” This decision follows a court ruling against the SEC in the Debt Box lawsuit, and Coinbase lawyer Paul Grewal criticized the SEC’s use of the term “attrition.”

The SEC recently faced a setback in the Debt Box case when District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby condemned the agency for their “bad faith conduct.” The SEC previously accused Debt Box of a $50 million fraud scheme. However, the judge dismissed the case, ordering the SEC to pay $1.75 million to cover legal fees and other expenses.

In its recent press release, the SEC disclosed its decision to shut down SLRO, reducing the regulator’s regional offices from 11 to 10. The agency stated that SLRO had been the SEC’s smallest regional office. The SEC elaborated:

“The agency considered its budget and organizational efficiency in deciding to close the office, and it has no plans to close any other regional offices. All current staff will be aligned to existing SEC organizational components based on their current functions and agency mission needs.”

Commenting on the SEC’s decision and the word “attrition” mentioned in the press release, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Grewal rebuked, “Attrition—is that what we are calling unprecedented misrepresentations and bad faith warranting unprecedented sanctions by a federal judge?.” Further, reflecting on the SEC’s anti-crypto stance and crypto lawsuits, Grewal remarked, “All that talk of ‘cops’ and ‘Wild West’ from a civil agency with zero criminal jurisdiction.”