Trump Nominates Crypto Enthusiast Paul Atkins to Lead SEC
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated digital asset industry lobbyist Paul S. Atkins to be chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This news follows current Chairman Gary Gensler’s announcement last month that he would step down from the post when Trump takes office.
Atkins is currently the chief executive officer of Patomak Global Partners LLC, a consulting firm for financial firms and cryptocurrency companies. He serves as co-chair of the Token Alliance, an initiative of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a lobbying group for the crypto industry.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations,” Trump said in his Truth Social post announcing the nomination. “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. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
Appointed by 43rd President George W. Bush, Atkins was a commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. Before his appointment as commissioner, according to Wikipedia, Atkins assisted financial services firms in improving their compliance with SEC regulations. He worked with law enforcement agencies to investigate and rectify situations where investors had been harmed, such as when leasing company Bennett Funding Group Inc. perpetrated the then-largest Ponzi fraud to date in U.S. history affecting 20,000-plus investors.
From 1990 to 1994, Atkins served on the staff of two former chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Under Chairman Breeden, he assisted in efforts to improve regulations regarding corporate governance, enhance shareholder communications, strengthen management accountability through proxy reform, and decrease barriers to entry for small businesses and middle market companies to the capital markets. Under Chairman Levitt, according to Wikipedia, he was responsible for organizing the SEC’s individual investor program, including the first investor town hall meetings, and an SEC consumer affairs advisory committee.
Atkins began his law career with Davis Polk & Wardwell, focusing on public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. His bachelor’s degree is from Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.
A New Era for Crypto?
Under Gensler, the SEC continued work begun by former Chairman Jay Clayton to protect investors in the crypto markets. The agency brought actions against crypto intermediaries for fraud, wash trading, registration violations, and other misconduct. In the last full fiscal year, according to the SEC’s Office of the Inspector General, 18% of the SEC’s tips, complaints, and referrals were crypto-related, despite the crypto markets comprising less than 1% of the U.S. capital markets.
Recent crypto enforcement matters over the summer included the SEC halting an alleged sibling-led, $60 million Ponzi scheme impacting more than 80 investors across the country; as well as a fraudulent scheme that raised more than $650 million in crypto assets from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including many in the Haitian-American community, according to the SEC.
Cryptocurrency advocates are already praising Atkins’ nomination as a pathway toward greater acceptance of their industry and during Trump’s first term, Atkins joined a business forum assembled by the president to provide strategic and policy advice on economic issues.
Initial Reception to the Pick
Several organizations have provided positive public comment on Trump’s nomination. The Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, an advocacy organization for the illiquid alternative investment industry, applauded the nomination and cited Atkins’ career experience.
“We applaud the nomination of Paul Atkins as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,” said Anya Coverman, president and chief executive officer of IPA. “Having served as an SEC Commissioner in the past, Mr. Atkins will bring strong experience to the Agency’s rulemaking and will help promote economic development, support retirement portfolios, and increase investor access to alternative investments. The SEC is uniquely positioned to advance investor-focused regulations that increase access, choice, and innovation, and one such policy change is addressing long overdue updates to the accredited investor definition. IPA looks forward to working with Mr. Atkins on these important initiatives and in support of individual investors.”
Similarly, the American Securities Association congratulated Atkins and noted his potential to rebuild public confidence in the SEC.
“ASA welcomes Paul Atkins’ nomination to lead the SEC, and we applaud President Trump for making an excellent choice with this pick,” said Chris Iacovella, president and CEO of ASA. “Paul is well-versed on investor protection, capital markets, market structure, and public company issues. We look forward to working with him to rebuild the public’s trust and confidence in the agency.”
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