SEC builds accounting fraud unit as crypto oversight tilts toward rulemaking

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set up a new department dedicated to examining violations in accounting practices and financial reporting, which shows that the agency has begun paying more attention to companies’ disclosures at a time when its approach toward crypto is quickly moving from litigation to rulemaking.

For the crypto industry and auditors who analyze their financial reports, this action delivers an unambiguous signal: even though the SEC is expanding its digital asset policy framework through the Crypto Task Force and regulations, it is actively improving its power of evaluating public firms’ disclosures to investors.

A team of accountants and lawyers, led by a Gibson Dunn alum

The new Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit will operate within the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, focusing on accounting fraud, financial reporting violations, and misconduct involving accountants and auditors.

The unit will be led by Timothy Zimmerman, who joined the SEC in May 2026 after spending 12 years at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and serving as deputy general counsel at RSM US LLP, the fifth-largest U.S. accounting firm. Enforcement Director David Woodcock, who also joined the SEC in May, previously worked at Gibson Dunn.

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