Trump picks former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to run agency (updated)
04/12/2024 18:54
*
Atkins is prominent Washington insider with SEC experience
*
Replaces Biden's Gary Gensler
*
Expected to take a softer approach to crypto
(Adds progressive group reaction in final paragraph)
By Lawrence Delevingne and Douglas Gillison
WASHINGTON, Dec 4 Reuters) - U.S. Republican
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would nominate
Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission,
putting a prominent and experienced conservative Washington
insider atop Wall Street's major regulator.
The appointment of Atkins, a lawyer and former top SEC
official who has advocated for de-regulation, spells relief for
Wall Street and the crypto industry which have chafed under
President Joe Biden's hard-charging SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
His nomination stands in contrast to Trump's cabinet
picks, many of whom are loyalists with few qualifications for
the job.
Atkins "believes in the promise of robust, innovative
capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors,"
Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.
"He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations
are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before."
Atkins and his representatives did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
Gensler, who is stepping down on Jan. 20, inked more than 40
rules aimed at boosting transparency, reducing risks, and
stamping out conflicts of interest on Wall Street and sued
multiple crypto firms he alleged were flouting SEC rules.
Atkins is expected to review many of Gensler's rules and
enforcement actions wending their way through the courts, adopt
a softer touch on crypto, and pursue rule changes aimed at
promoting capital formation. Industry groups applauded his
nomination, while some progressive groups warned he may be too
soft on Wall Street.
"His distinguished record, years of experience in the
industry, and history of service at the SEC make him a supremely
well qualified nominee," Eric Pan, the chief executive of
investor lobby group the Investment Company Institute, said in a
statement.
Atkins is currently the chief executive at Patomak Global
Partners, a Washington-based strategic and risk management
advisory business he founded in 2009.
The well-connected firm's leaders, many of them former
federal regulators, consult with banks, fintech companies and
investment firms, among others, according to its website.
Atkins' clients have included Deutsche Bank as a court-appointed
monitor and the Chicago Board Options Exchange as an expert
witness, court records show.
Atkins served on Trump's transition team in 2016, when he
was also viewed as a contender to lead the SEC, Reuters reported
at the time. He was then among the high-profile business
executives on a short-lived advisory council for President
Trump.
CRYPTO FRIEND?
The crypto industry, which poured money into Trump's
campaign, has pushed for an industry-friendly SEC chair that
would end Gensler's crackdown, and industry executives had said
ahead of the nomination that he would be a good pick.
Atkins has been involved in crypto policy as co-chair of the
Token Alliance, which works to "develop best practices for
digital asset issuances and trading platforms," and the broader
blockchain trade association, the Chamber of Digital Commerce,
as a member of its advisory board.
"This is a strong, forward-leaning pick. We look forward to
a new SEC administration focused on promoting responsible
innovation," Ji Kim, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at the
Crypto Council for Innovation, said in a statement.
In the early 1990s, he was a staffer for two former
chairmen, Richard Breeden and Arthur Levitt. In 2002, Atkins was
picked by President George W. Bush to be one of the agency's
five politically-appointed commissioners, a role he held until
2008. At the SEC, Atkins said his "overriding philosophy" was
based on the "free market system," and in the role he opposed
what he saw as unproductive increases in oversight of hedge
funds, internal audit controls, and stock trading rules known as
Reg NMS.
In line with the Trump administration's plans to challenge
so-called "woke" capitalism, Atkins has criticized socially
conscious corporate shareholder activism - an issue the SEC has
embraced in recent years with climate risk disclosures and other
rules on environmental, social and governance investing.
He has also criticized overzealous SEC corporate enforcement
actions, arguing they only hurt shareholders twice over.
Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate at Public
Citizen, flagged worries Atkins may try to unpick important
investor protections, adding: "We obviously hope he understands
that, if confirmed, he will be expected to work on behalf of
average Americans, not his consulting clients, crypto or
otherwise."
(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Additional reporting by
Michelle Price and Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by
Rosalba O'Brien and Diane Craft)