(Article from Registered Funds Regulatory Update, January 2025)
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On December 4, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate Paul Atkins as the new SEC Chair to succeed Gary Gensler, who announced on November 21, 2024 his intention to step down effective January 20, 2025. Atkins, who served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under President George W. Bush, is well known in the securities regulatory community. In a shift away from Gensler’s approach, Atkins is expected to take a lighter regulatory approach to regulation, consistent with his prior tenure at the SEC. During his time as a Commissioner, Atkins emphasized the importance of capital market innovation and reducing regulatory burdens and advanced various reform efforts, such as modifying compliance requirements for smaller companies under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Following the end of his term, Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners, a financial services consulting firm that provides advisory services for banks and investment firms on regulatory and compliance matters, including more recently on issues related to crypto and digital assets. He also Co-Chairs the Digital Chamber of Commerce’s Token Alliance and serves on the Advisory Board of Securitize, a digital asset firm that promotes the use of digital tokens. Atkins is known to be pro-business, conservative, and a strong advocate of crypto and digital assets. In a statement released in support of Atkins, the Investment Company Institute stated that “[h]is distinguished record, years of experience in the industry, and history of service at the SEC make him a supremely well qualified nominee…”.
In addition to Gensler’s departure, SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga announced he will be stepping down effective January 17, 2025, which will leave one Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw, on the Commission when President-elect Trump takes office. Crenshaw’s future though is uncertain as her term ended in June of 2024, but she is permitted to serve up to 18 months beyond the expiration of her term or she could be nominated for a second term. Depending on the timing of her departure, it is possible that President-elect Trump could be in a position to appoint up to three Commissioners during the first year of his term, subject to Senate confirmation, setting the stage for a Republican-led Commission under Atkins.
Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run the S.E.C. (Dec. 4, 2024), available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/business/trump-sec-paul-atkins.html.