Biography
Jorge G. Tenreiro is the Acting Chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Crypto Asset and Cyber Unit. In that role, he has supervised investigations that resulted in SEC lawsuits against SEC registrants with respect to certain cyber security interests and against significant participants in the crypto asset markets, including Samuel Bankman-Fried in connection with the collapse of FTX.
Previously, Mr. Tenreiro served as the Enforcement Counsel to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, providing advice to the Chair as to all matters relating to the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Before that, he was a Senior Trial Counsel in the Division of Enforcement of the SEC, New York Regional Office.
Since joining the SEC in 2013, Mr. Tenreiro has obtained specialized knowledge regarding the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-related transactions and obtained significant experience litigating various matters brought by the agency, including fraudulent offerings and pump and dump schemes. Mr. Tenreiro was also the lead litigating counsel in various crypto-related matters, including the litigation in the SEC’s first two ICO scam cases, the landmark litigation in SEC v. Telegram Group, Inc., the litigation in SEC v. Ripple Labs, and other high-profile crypto-related matters.
Throughout his career at the SEC, Mr. Tenreiro has taken matters to favorable verdicts for the SEC before federal juries, conducted successful administrative and bench proceedings, and argued over a dozen times in federal court.
Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Tenreiro was a law clerk for the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and a law clerk to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross of the Eastern District of New York. From October 2006 to August 2007 and from September 2008 to August 2012, Mr. Tenreiro was an associate in the litigation department of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP. Mr. Tenreiro is a 2006 graduate of Yale Law School and in May 2003, Mr. Tenreiro obtained his B.A., magna cum laude with distinction in Economics and Mathematics from Yale University.
Throughout his career, Mr. Tenreiro has also devoted significant time to matters of interest to the LGBTQ community. In 2009, Mr. Tenreiro was co-counsel in lawsuit securing a victory at summary judgment under the ADA on behalf of an HIV+ teenager denied admission to a basketball summer camp on the basis of his HIV-status. In 2011, Mr. Tenreiro authored an amicus brief in support of the law school in the Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which recognized the school’s ability to impose rules barring discrimination against LGBTQ individuals on law school student groups. In 2012, Mr. Tenreiro co-authored a brief in support of a disabled veteran’s request for same-sex spousal benefits before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Tenreiro served as a member of the LGBT Committee of the New York City and he currently serves as a member of the LGBT Bar of Greater New York’s Judiciary Committee.