The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to close one of its eleven regional offices following a federal judge's directive to pay around $1.8 million in attorney and receivership fees. The SEC announced its plan to shutter the Salt Lake Regional Office by 2024, stating that the closure is a result of significant attrition at the office and that operations will be relocated to Denver. This decision came shortly after Judge Robert Shelby dismissed the SEC's civil lawsuit against Digital Licensing, also known as DEBT Box, and mandated the SEC to cover attorney and receiver fees totaling $1.8 million. The lawsuit against DEBT Box, which was initiated in July 2023 for an alleged $50 million crypto scheme, faced criticism from Judge Shelby for engaging in bad faith conduct during asset freezing. As a consequence, the SEC was penalized with sanctions, including covering all legal costs related to the restraining order. Two SEC lawyers, who were situated at the Salt Lake Regional Office, resigned in response to the handling of the case, although it remains uncertain whether their departure contributed to the office's attrition. The SEC is actively pursuing enforcement actions against various crypto firms, such as Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Ripple. In a separate development, Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon recently announced an in-principle settlement in their case with the SEC.