Robinhood meets ‘in good faith’ with SEC for 16th time: CEO

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the fintech company met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 16 times to register as a special purpose broker-dealer supporting crypto assets before receiving the Wells notice from the regulator.

speaking CNBC last callTenev said the stock trading platform “came in good faith to meet with the SEC,” adding, “We’ve met with them, I think, 16 times, and unfortunately that wasn’t reciprocated.”

The Robinhood CEO said regulators “have told us they don’t want to keep having meetings about this, and they don’t see a path forward,” adding that it’s “difficult to pass on the logic” behind the SEC’s decision.

Tenev’s comments to the SEC echo those of Dan Gallagher, Robinhood Markets’ chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer. He noted in congressional testimony last year that the company had “more than a dozen meetings and calls” with regulators to discuss its cryptocurrency business. And the listing process lasts one and a half years.

Robinhood Crypto Receives SEC Wells Notice

Last week, Robinhood said its digital asset arm, Robinhood Crypto, had received Wells Notice from the SEC, notifying it that the regulator plans to pursue a civil enforcement action or file suit against the company.

This comes as the SEC has stepped up regulatory warnings for U.S. cryptocurrency companies and recently issued the following notice to Wells: Ethereum Software giant Consensys and decentralized exchange (dex) Developer Uniswap Labs.

speaking CNBC last callTenev argued that the SEC has chosen to pursue “regulation through enforcement,” even though it “has the ability to change the rules to allow brokers to accept crypto assets.”

“We didn’t want to be in this situation, but we have to defend ourselves and advocate for our customers,” Tenev said. “Crypto assets are becoming more and more important to keep Americans away from them.”