The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has permanently lost nearly a year's worth of text messages from former Chair Gary Gensler, according to a new report by the SEC's Inspector General. The messages, sent and received on Gensler's government phone between October 18, 2022, and September 6, 2023, were lost due to a series of "avoidable" technology failures by the agency's Office of Information Technology. The report highlights significant lapses in the SEC's data management practices, raising concerns about the agency's ability to preserve critical communications. The loss of these messages could impact ongoing investigations and regulatory oversight, as they may have contained important information related to the SEC's operations during Gensler's tenure.