Newly appointed Texas State Securities Board Commissioner Jeramy E. Heintz said he planned to ensure that the 69-year-old agency continues to modernize its operations by leveraging emerging technologies to remain a national model for other state regulators in protecting investors and markets.
“I’m for an agency that embraces new technology, responds quickly and efficiently to emerging threats, and treats the public with the professionalism they deserve, never losing sight of our mission, which is protecting Texas investors,” Heintz, 44, told The Texas Lawbook.
Heintz, a 12-year veteran of the securities board, had served as director of enforcement before being named commissioner on June 18. He succeeds Travis Iles, who had been commissioner from 2017 until his retirement in mid-June after more than two decades of service to the agency.
“The future could make our financial system faster, more successful, and more efficient,” Heintz said. “But we also must make sure to maintain the trust that makes the market work.”
Heintz said he planned to ensure the board played a prominent role in taking action against fraudsters and pointed to the board’s legacy of taking some of the earliest regulatory enforcement against cryptocurrency investment schemes before federal enforcement actions followed.
“We always want to say we’re here to prevent, protect, and prosecute violations of the Securities Act,” he said. “That’s our job.”
As the board commissioner, Heintz will serve as the agency’s administrative officer and oversee the day-to-day operations of the 85 full-time staff members, including enforcement, registration, inspections, investor education, and administration.
Heintz, who graduated from Oklahoma City University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Texas, serves at the pleasure of a five-member board appointed by the Texas governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Each board member serves a six-year overlapping term.
He said his “number one goal” while heading up enforcement was to recoup money from scamsters on behalf of victims. “The cases where we were able to return all or some of the funds to victims,” he said, “those are the ones that stand out the most…If there was no money, and it was criminal, you’d want to get a conviction.”
Texas’s robust economy makes the state an attractive target for promoters of fraudulent investment schemes, he said. That comes as Texas has become home to the latest national securities exchange — the Texas Stock Exchange in Dallas. The TXSE secured approvals from the Securities & Exchange Commission and the State Securities Board in September 2025.
The agency will “walk a fine line” in a carefully balanced, measured regulatory approach. If too harsh, he said, a regulatory system could limit incentives for businesses to raise capital in Texas and create barriers to accessing the funds needed to grow. However, an overly lenient regulatory system fosters an environment in which unscrupulous promoters can damage investor confidence, inhibit investment in the state, and erode legitimate businesses’ access to needed capital.
“We have to continue to foster financial innovations in Texas,” he said. “Texas is in the lead for what’s going on in technology and the financial industry… A strong, predictable enforcement division removes fraudsters and bad actors from the market, protecting legitimate businesses and allowing legitimate products to flourish.”
Heintz said the agency has valuable tools — administrative, civil, and criminal — to effectively redress a wide range of schemes. During his career, Heintz oversaw complex investigations involving investment fraud, digital assets, unregistered securities offerings, Ponzi schemes, affinity fraud, and elder financial exploitation.
The agency has referred criminal matters to district attorneys and U.S. attorneys in Texas. Agency attorneys have often been appointed as special prosecutors to assist in drafting indictments, present cases to grand juries, and conduct felony trials for securities fraud and related offenses. In its investigations, the agency has worked extensively with federal and state regulatory and law enforcement partners, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and securities regulators nationwide.
According to the board’s annual report for fiscal year 2025, the board opened 451 law enforcement investigations. The report also said that 96 percent of law enforcement actions were successful that year. That came as the number of individuals contacting the board for assistance increased dramatically over two years, doubling from 808 victim reports in fiscal 2023 to 1,664 in fiscal 2025.
Heintz said the board has a history of taking swift, strong action.
The board was the first state securities regulator to enter an enforcement action against USI-Tech in December 2017, before federal enforcement actions followed. The Texas State Securities Board issued an emergency cease-and-desist order against USI-Tech, alleging that the company was selling unregistered securities and making misleading claims about guaranteed investment returns.
The company promoted “Bitcoin Packages” and other cryptocurrency investment products, promising investors returns of up to 140 percent to 150 percent annually through automated bitcoin trading and mining technology. Other securities regulators around the world, including authorities in Canada, Spain, New Zealand, and other jurisdictions, later issued similar warnings or enforcement actions.
A month later, in January 2018, the Texas State Securities Board also issued an emergency cease-and-desist order against BitConnect, alleging it was selling unregistered securities and misleading investors. North Carolina regulators issued a similar order shortly thereafter. Within weeks, BitConnect shut down its lending platform, causing the value of its cryptocurrency to collapse by more than 90 percent.
Digital technology has made everything more globally connected, he said, and regulators need to ensure market integrity.
“We’ve got artificial intelligence. We have blockchain technology, tokenization, and real-time settlements,” he said. “These technologies have the potential to improve efficiency and expand access to the capital a market needs. So, what we have to do is maintain investor trust, the trust that makes the market work.”
He said evolving technology has led to pig butchering scams via texts, emails, and other social media — “things we didn’t see seven years ago.” He said the classic pig butchering scheme involves fraudsters contacting prospective victims, gaining their trust, and then defrauding them.
Heintz said the scam derives its name from the practice of fattening a hog before slaughter. “It is a long-term game, but we see a lot of it.”
Heintz said he wanted to launch a social media education plan focused on prevention to help investors avoid scammers. “We would much rather spend our time on that end of it than on the end of it where we are trying to pick up the pieces,” he said. “If you can tackle things at the prevention stage, it will help everyone.”
Heintz said the education plan, currently in development, would highlight red flags for consumers and the business community. “One of the first things I want to implement is a consistent message for Texas investors and beyond, delivered through social media or by meeting with groups,” he said.
Fraud often relies on “false promises, high-pressure sales, unrealistic returns, and flat-out misrepresentations,” he said. “What is changing is the speed, and the scale, and the sophistication in how these schemes are reaching investors.”
He currently serves as co-chair of the North American Securities Administrators Association’s Enforcement Training Project Group, which develops and delivers professional training for securities regulators across North America. Through his work in Texas and nationally, Heintz has helped position state securities regulators as leaders in addressing ever-evolving threats and opportunities in modern financial markets.
“Jeramy’s extensive experience, commitment to public service, and proven leadership make him exceptionally qualified to lead the agency,” said Texas State Securities Board Chair E. Wally Kinney in a written statement. “His dedication to investor protection, deep understanding of the securities industry, and vision for a modern, innovative, and efficient regulatory framework will serve Texas investors, businesses, and financial professionals well.”
Heintz downplayed his role as the day-to-day leader.
“The agency’s success has always been driven by the professionalism, expertise, and dedication of its employees,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such talented public servants and to continue serving the people of Texas.”