Jason Foster, the founder of Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR), has revealed that the nonprofit has now obtained the SEC’s crypto conflicts report on former top official William Hinman.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG), the independent office within the highly influential regulatory agency, has found no criminal violations.
The OIG has determined that Hinman’s infamous 2018 speech, in which he stated that Ethereum (ETH) was not a security, did not violate the agency’s ethics rule.
The speech, according to OIG, had no “direct and predictable” effect on Hinman’s financial interests.
Hinman left Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a New York-based white-shoe law firm, after a 16-year stint to join the SEC in May 2017. It was alleged that Hinman had a direct financial interest in classifying Ether as a non-security since STB was a member of the Ethereum Alliance, an industry organization focused on the popular blockchain network.
The OIG found no evidence contradicting Hinman’s statement about not taking part in matters involving STB. Moreover, he did not own any crypto, according to his 2021 testimony.
The highly controversial speech was “collaboratively drafted,” meaning that Hinman did not actually represent his own views. The IOG has stressed that multiple offices and divisions took part in the drafting process. “The decision to mention Ether in the speech was likewise collaborative,” the report says.
Empower Oversight has criticized the report, stating that it only narrowly focuses on evidence of criminal conflicts of interest.
