SEC Announces Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to Protect Retail Investors
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the creation of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, or CETU, to focus on combatting cyber-related misconduct and to protect retail investors from bad actors in the emerging technologies space. The CETU, led by Laura D’Allaird, replaces the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and is comprised of approximately 30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple SEC offices.
“Under Laura’s leadership, this new unit will complement the work of the Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce. Importantly, the new unit will also allow the SEC to deploy enforcement resources judiciously,” said Mark T. Uyeda, acting chairman.
“The unit will not only protect investors but will also facilitate capital formation and market efficiency by clearing the way for innovation to grow. It will root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies,” added Uyeda.
Specifically, the CETU will utilize the staff’s substantial fintech and cyber-related experience to combat misconduct as it relates to securities transactions in the following priority areas:
- Fraud committed using emerging technologies, such as AI and machine learning;
- Use of social media, the dark web, or false websites to perpetrate fraud;
- Hacking to obtain material nonpublic information;
- Takeovers of retail brokerage accounts;
- Fraud involving blockchain technology and crypto assets;
- Regulated entities’ compliance with cybersecurity rules and regulations; and
- Public issuer fraudulent disclosure relating to cybersecurity.
D’Allaird has been with the SEC since 2016, holding several roles including senior counsel to the enforcement division’s cyber unit. Prior to, she was an associate at Arnold & Porter and a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
D’Allaird earned her juris doctorate from Columbia Law School and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.
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