SEC to pay $150,000, release two documents in FOIA deal

The Securities and Exchange Commission will pay $150,000 and release two previously withheld documents as part of a settlement that resolves a Coinbase-backed Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The agreement was filed on July 22, 2026.

History Associates, working with Coinbase, filed the public-records suit on June 27, 2024. The case closed without any admission of wrongdoing and before a judge ruled on the agency’s conduct.

Under the settlement, the SEC must provide two documents it had withheld and carry out a review of how it preserves records and text messages. The agency has not publicly disclosed the contents of the documents, when they will be produced, or the detailed scope and timeline of the preservation review.

The preservation review follows a September 2025 finding by the SEC’s inspector general that avoidable device-management errors led to the loss of former Chair Gary Gensler’s text messages from Oct. 18, 2022, through Sept. 6, 2023. The inspector general reported the missing messages were likely federal records. The settlement does not state that any of those texts were recovered.

FOIA applies only to records an agency has captured and retained. The agreement requires the SEC to examine how it preserves and locates communications for public-records requests but does not specify particular policy or technical changes.

Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal described the outcome as “a win for transparency.” The settlement includes the $150,000 payment to cover legal fees.

Observers and the parties say the next steps are the public release of the two documents and any SEC report or explanation about the results of its preservation review and any changes to retention practices.