And why the NYAG's request will force a sale of Grayscale.
2/ The Enron fraud involved the use of off-balance sheet special purpose entities (SPEs) to hide debt and inflate profits.
Enron executives engaged in self-dealing transactions.
The NYAG alleges DCG did both of these...and more.
3/ Through complex financial structures, Enron was able to disguise its true financial state, misleading investors and analysts.
DCG did the same (later), but took it to another level
4/ While many of Enron's transactions were technically within the legal boundaries, the aggregate manipulation of these transactions was the fraud.
Enron exploitated accounting loopholes and got auditors and bankers to sign off.
5/ The difference is DCG flat out falsified their statements, withheld material information, withheld disclosure, and lied to its own staff and customers about its cutomer health.
There were no loopholes with the DCG fraud.
6/ DCG and Genesis knew the latter was insolvent. But both parties sought to portray 'business as usual' and a 'well capitalized status'
7/ Genesis "concealed disclosure" of financials for many months despite requests from customers and Gemini.
The CFO refused to join customer calls. Instead, the front-line was provided with talking points to perpetuate the deception
8/ DCG "raided the Genesis piggy bank using customer funds to finance itself.
DCG directed its subsidiary to re-finance its own loans multiple times and dictated terms.
This action deepened the Genesis negative equity hole.
9/ The NYAG complaint is Civil in nature. But the complaint alleges @BarrySilbert and execs broke multiple criminal laws, repeatedly.
10/ The NYAG shows thru multiple pieces of evidence that Silbert directed the fraud from DCG.
Silbert: "We can't allow people inside our outside to question Genesis solvency"
11/ Pair that note from DCG's CEO with the Genesis CEO saying: "If we're able to show our balance sheet after all of that happened and it still looks strong...people will care less about losses"
That’s not how it works.
You show the balance sheet as-is.
12/ Here's more evidence of Barry Silbert directing Genesis.
"We received guidance from [ Silbert ] to re-paper the $100 Loan...we will do what DCG needs us to do."
DCG also set the interest rate and terms.
13/ DCG's Head of Communications and COO were drafting tweets for Genesis CEO (Moro) - and advising that he send it off his personal twitter
14/ On the Promissory Note
DCG never "assumed the liability" contrary to public statements.
The Promissory Note was material, self-directed and concealed the truth - it was intended to deceive and mislead.
That’s fraud.
15\ DCG started talking about "Duration Mismatch" in its November letter to investors and 'crypto volatility' as the cause for its woes.
I called this deception out back in November after the DCG shareholder letter:
We can add Birkenstock to the list of failed IPOs this season.
The stock opened at $41 per share after being priced at $46 per share.
The stock slipped 21% in the first week of trading.
That's the worst IPO performance in 2 years.
The CEO of LVMH had these words: "The reaction is more a reflection of the pricing than it is the quality of the stock".
Here's who the Lead Underwriters were:
Birkenstock: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley
ARM: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Barclays
Instacart: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan
Klaviyo: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup
There are obvious conflicts of interest when an investment bank raises capital, and at the same time sells those shares to its own wealth mangement clientele, and then writes a research report.
Remember that Morgan Stanley $400 price target on Tesla issued not too long ago?
Serious Question: What Will Be the Legacy of SEC Chair Gensler?
We are only now grasping the consequences.
1) **Death of Chevron Doctrine**: Under Chair Gensler's watch, the SEC's waning court victories have diluted the deference usually afforded to the agency's interpretations of ambiguous laws. The doctrine's erosion suggests that future SEC actions will face higher judicial scrutiny.
2) **Shift Toward Congressional Authority**: As the SEC loses in multiple districts, courts increasingly look to Congress for definitive guidance on ambiguous matters. This redirects the source of financial regulation authority from the SEC to Congress. (Major Questions Doctrine in ascent.)
3) **Redefining Investment and Commodities**: Legal precedent is evolving. One court's ruling that 'speculation' doesn't qualify as an investment if it lacks common enterprise undermines traditional securities definitions. Combine that with the Ripple ruling (the manner of sale matters in determining whether something is a security) and you have a stronger CFTC and a proliferation of Digital Asset commodities.
4) **Questioning Regulation by Enforcement**: Courts have deemed the SEC's approach to regulation via enforcement as ‘capricious and arbitrary’. Future SEC Chairs, are likely to abandon that unsuccessful strategy.
5) **Increased Litigation**: With the SEC's interpretive guidance holding less weight, we could see a surge in litigation as market participants challenge the agency's authority more aggressively.
6) **Legitimacy Questions for Previous Cases**: If the recent court losses call into question the SEC's interpretive authority, there may be grounds to reexamine past enforcement actions, leading to potential appeals or even reversals.
The sum total of these consequences points to a future where both the SEC and the financial markets it regulates navigate a landscape of greater complexity and uncertainty.
The legacy of SEC Chair Gensler, thus, risks being one that complicates rather than clarifies the rules of the game.
The Chair’s strategies have inadvertently weakened the SEC's legal and enforcement frameworks.
In retrospect, issuing Interpretive Guidance, responding to requests for rule making, or working out a framework with Congress would have been better.
The damage to public confidence, enforcement bite, and the SEC’s reputation as an institution appears significant.
A new SEC Chair and Congressional action seems inevitable to repair the damage.
It turns out longest serving bipartisan SEC Chair @ArthurLevitt was correct: "‘Crypto will be part of the American financial scene sooner than later.’"
In an alternate universe, Chair Gensler could have led the transformation from the old conflict-ridden centralized world to the new all-to-all decentralized world.
He could have bridged the gap, advanced a framework, and gone down as a legend.
He understood TradFi and Crypto.
The issue is not regulatory capture (in this case), it appears to be Political Capture by his political sponsors.