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SEC Chair Cites Progress in Fight Against "Institutional Drift"

"By rejecting the institutional drift that the previous administration had normalized, I am pleased to report that we are recalibrating the agency in line with its statutory mission. An aggressive rulemaking agenda in the coming year, meanwhile, will build on the work that we have begun at an auspicious moment."
Paul Atkins, SEC Chair
"By rejecting the institutional drift that the previous administration had normalized, I am pleased to report that we are recalibrating the agency in line with its statutory mission. An aggressive rulemaking agenda in the coming year, meanwhile, will build on the work that we have begun at an auspicious moment."
Paul Atkins, SEC Chair

SEC Chair Paul Atkins articulated his strategy for "return[ing] the agency to the core mission that Congress set for it." 

In remarks to the Economic Club of Washington, Mr. Atkins described a strategy to "advance, clarify, and transform" the agency. He said the agency advanced steps to modernize its regulatory posture to reflect current market realities, with a particular focus on digital assets. He cited the agency's publication of a crypto-token taxonomy distinguishing five categories of digital assets, four of which are not securities, and announced a forthcoming "innovation exemption" to permit compliant on-chain trading of tokenized securities. Mr. Atkins also noted the SEC was monitoring the growth of private credit markets and said transparency and investor protection must follow capital wherever it flows.

Mr. Atkins described a Memorandum of Understanding between the SEC and CFTC as clarifying by aligning regulatory definitions, coordinating oversight, and reducing jurisdictional ambiguity - particularly for digital assets and dually registered firms.

Mr. Atkins said he was transforming the agency by the withdrawal of 14 rule proposals and initiation of a first-principles review of its disclosure regime, arguing that materiality - not regulatory curiosity - must guide disclosure requirements. He outlined a "Make IPOs Great Again" agenda, instructing staff to evaluate an IPO regulatory on-ramp, expanded accommodations for smaller companies, streamlined shelf registration, and an option for companies to file on a quarterly or semiannual basis. Mr. Atkins added that enforcement was recentered on fraud and individual accountability rather than headline-driven case volume.

Primary Sources

  1. SEC: Speech: Keynote Remarks at The Economic Club of Washington

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Tags

Individuals
Paul S. Atkins
Body of Law
Securities Law
Jurisdiction
US - Federal
Organization
SEC