The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to impose multi-year bans on several former executives tied to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, marking another step in the long-running fallout from one of the industry’s most high-profile failures.
In a litigation release published Friday, the SEC said it has proposed final consent judgments that would bar former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang, and former FTX co-lead engineer Nishad Singh from serving as officers or directors of any public company for extended periods.
Under the proposed settlements, which are subject to approval by a federal court in New York, Ellison agreed to a 10-year officer and director ban. Wang and Singh each consented to eight-year bans. All three also agreed to permanent injunctions preventing future violations of key federal securities laws, including antifraud provisions under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933, along with five-year conduct-based injunctions.
The SEC emphasized that the defendants agreed to the judgments without admitting or denying the agency’s allegations.
FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after a sudden liquidity crisis exposed what regulators and prosecutors later described as widespread misuse of customer funds. Alameda Research, a closely affiliated trading firm, collapsed alongside the exchange.
According to earlier SEC charges, Ellison, Wang, and Singh played central roles in a scheme that misled investors. Regulators alleged that Wang and Singh helped design software that allowed Alameda Research to access and redirect FTX customer funds. Ellison, the SEC said, then used those funds to support Alameda’s trading activities.
The proposed officer and director bans were part of a “bifurcated settlement” structure agreed to when the civil charges were first filed.
All three executives also faced criminal cases. Wang and Singh received no prison time, while Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the events leading to FTX’s collapse. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried received the harshest penalty, with a nearly 25-year prison sentence after being convicted on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The SEC’s latest action underscores its effort to hold former crypto industry leaders accountable and to prevent those involved in major financial misconduct from returning to positions of corporate authority. As the legal aftermath of FTX continues, regulators are signaling that enforcement consequences will extend well beyond prison terms.
