Dive Brief:
- President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday said he has picked Paul Atkins, a business consultant and cryptocurrency industry lobbyist, to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Atkins currently serves as the CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a risk management consultancy, as well as co-chair of the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Token Alliance, a lobbying group for the crypto industry. He served as a commissioner at the SEC under former President George W. Bush.
- “Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World.”
Dive Insight:
The news comes after the SEC’s current chair, Gary Gensler, announced that he will leave the agency on Jan. 20.
Trump and Republican lawmakers have criticized the sitting SEC leader for tough oversight, including the agency’s approach toward crypto companies and enforcement of securities laws.
In one of his most widely criticized moves, Gensler gained commission approval this year for a rule requiring companies to disclose the impact of climate change on their finances, operations and business strategy.
Trump’s selection of Atkins to take over the agency drew praise from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
“Paul Atkins has the experience necessary to lead the agency out of Gary Gensler’s disastrous tenure and help revitalize the U.S. capital markets system — which is critical to our economic growth, job creation, and innovation,” Scott said in a statement.
Richard Hong, a partner at law firm Morrison Cohen LLP, predicted that Atkins, if confirmed, will bring relief to the defense bar.
“He is a wickedly smart and conservative lawyer, and he understands that SEC’s regulation by enforcement cannot continue — whether in crypto or elsewhere in the SEC space,” Hong, who worked as a trial lawyer at the SEC when Atkins was a commissioner, said in an emailed statement.
Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, a nonprofit that promotes financial reform, slammed the nomination, describing Atkins as a “deregulation zealot and industry cheerleader.”
While serving as a commissioner at the SEC from 2002 to 2008, Atkins “supported deregulation that contributed to the devastating 2008 crash,” Kelleher said in a statement. “Learning nothing from that, he formed a consulting firm after leaving the SEC to represent clients fighting against the re-regulation of the financial industry to protect investors and prevent another crash.”
Editor’s note: Gabrielle Salsbery, a reporter with CFO Dive’s sister publication Banking Dive, contributed to this report.
