FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2025
CONTACT: Carter Dougherty, carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org
Senate Approves Unfit Leader for the Securities and Exchange Commission
Atkins as chair threatens financial security of investors, pension funds and working families
Washington, D.C. —The Senate approved the nomination of Paul Atkins to serve as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a partisan vote putting a deeply flawed nominee in office at a time of great market turmoil that could threaten investors, retirees and pensions, equity markets, and the broader economy
Atkins was a deeply flawed nominee who previously, as a commissioner, supported industry-backed deregulation that led to the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, he has consistently opposed the necessary investor protections and post-crisis reforms embodied in the Dodd-Frank Act. Conflicts of interests stemming from his post-SEC consultancy should have been disqualifying for this critical role.
“The Trump SEC has already pulled back on enforcement and given a green light to crypto hucksters and now the Atkins chairmanship will open the floodgates for corporate misdeeds and chicanery that can threaten financial stability and the real economy,” said Patrick Woodall, managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform. “Gyrating markets need a steady hand on the tiller, but Atkins’ anything-goes approach that enriches his former clients and billionaire buddies will put people’s life savings at risk.”
Atkins longstanding deregulatory efforts at the SEC and as an author of the Project 2025 chapter on financial regulatory agencies benefits the financial industry — including his recent clients — and undermines the SEC’s mandate to protect investors and the market. Nearly 50 organizations had urged the Senate to reject the Atkins nomination because of the grave concerns that Atkins will once again pursue a deregulatory agenda that would enable Wall Street and big companies to operate without accountability, erode the SEC’s ability to enforce securities laws to protect investors and market integrity, and imperil economic stability.
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