Two Republican lawmakers are demanding that the SEC turn over documents related to their charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
"Failure to produce the requested information could result in the committee considering using compulsory process, if necessary, to obtain the requested information," wrote House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., in a letter sent to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Wednesday.
The SEC charged Mr. Bankman-Fried, co-founder and former CEO of the failed crypto exchange FTX, on Dec. 13 with orchestrating a scheme to defraud FTX investors.
The lawmakers requested that the SEC send over documents related to the charges, including "the staff recommendation memo presented to the commission for a vote on charges," according to the letter.
Mr. Bankman-Fried was set to testify at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the FTX collapse Dec. 13, however, Bahamian authorities arrested him just one day prior to the hearing, after federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted him on eight criminal charges.
Mr. McHenry and Mr. Huizenga first requested SEC documents related to these charges in February, however, after some back and forth, they are still awaiting the documents they requested, according to their letter.
In their Feb. 10 letter to Mr. Gensler, Mr. McHenry and Mr. Huizenga wrote that "the timing of the charges and (Mr. Bankman-Fried's) arrest raise serious questions about the SEC's process and cooperation with the Department of Justice."
Their most recent letter calls for the staff recommendation "to be produced immediately" and all other materials to be submitted by no later than 5 p.m. on April 17.
Mr. Gensler told the lawmakers in a Tuesday letter that he would "continue [the] ongoing review of commission records and supplement the production of responsive materials and information, as appropriate," according to the lawmakers' most recent correspondence.
When asked for comment, an SEC spokesman said in an email, "Chair Gensler will respond to members of Congress directly, rather than through the media."
