SEC Imposes A 8–10 Year Bans On Executives Of FTX Case

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that the former FTX Executives including Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Alameda Research CEO Carolien Ellison will be barred from serving in corporate leadership roles for the next decade.

In a final consent judgment announced Friday, the SEC said Ellison agreed to a 10-year ban, while Wang and Singh each consented to eight-year bans. All three are also subject to five-year conduct-based injunctions, restricting their involvement in certain financial and securities-related activities.

According to the SEC, the bans stem from the executives’ roles in the misuse of customer funds between 2019 and 2022, when Alameda Research was allegedly granted preferential treatment and access to billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits.

"In reality, as alleged in the complaints, Sam Bankman-Freid, Wang, and Singh, with Ellison's knowledge and consent, had exempted Alameda from risk mitigation measures and provided Alameda with a virtually unlimited like of credit funded by FTX's customers."

The complaints also alleged that Wang and Singh created FTX's software code that allowed FTX customer funds to be diverted to Alameda, and that Ellison used misappropriated FTX customer funds for Alameda's trading activity.

The ruling represents the final civil enforcement outcome for FTX’s inner circle, following years of investigations into one of the most significant failures in crypto history.

The leadership bans arrive as the FTX case reaches its final chapters, with the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried serving a 25-year federal prison sentence after being convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges related to the exchange’s collapse. He is awaiting the outcome of an appeal now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Ellison, Wang, and Singh all pleaded guilty and cooperated extensively with federal prosecutors, testifying against Bankman-Fried at trial. That cooperation factored heavily into their criminal sentences, which were significantly lighter than those handed to non-cooperating executives.

Ellison received a two-year prison sentence, while Wang and Singh were sentenced to time served in 2024. Despite the reduced prison terms, the SEC’s officer-and-director bans ensure that all three remain sidelined from executive decision-making roles long after their criminal cases conclude.

Ellison Quietly Transferred to Community Confinement Ahead of Release

This new development comes amidst the shocking news of Caroline Ellison's secret release from prison, with her being quietly transferred out of federal prison months ahead of schedule. In October, she was moved from the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut to community confinement, which includes home confinement or placement in a halfway house under continued federal supervision.

Public records list Ellison’s projected release date as Feb. 20, 2026, suggesting she will serve roughly 11 months of her two-year sentence. Oddly enough, federal authorities and Ellison’s legal team have declined to comment on the specific reasons for the early transfer, though legal analysts note such moves are common for inmates who demonstrate good behavior or provide substantial cooperation.

Ellison’s early transition, paired with the SEC’s decade-long leadership ban, highlights the dual track of accountability facing former FTX executives: reduced prison time in exchange for cooperation, but long-lasting professional consequences that effectively remove them from positions of corporate power.

The SEC’s final judgments close a major chapter in the civil case against FTX’s former leadership, reinforcing a clear message from regulators: cooperation may mitigate criminal penalties, but access to the executive suite is no longer on the table for those tied to one of crypto’s most damaging collapses.