Trump team interviews former Commissioner Paul Atkins for SEC chair role

President-elect Donald Trump is considering Paul Atkins, a seasoned financial regulator and advocate for deregulation, as the next chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Atkins has emerged as a leading candidate to replace outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler. 

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokesperson, said:

“President-elect Trump has made brilliant decisions on who will serve in his second administration at lightning pace.”

Stance shift

Atkins, a Republican SEC commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, is a vocal advocate for crypto and fintech innovation, marking a potential pivot from the SEC's current stance.

He has previously testified before Congress on restructuring the SEC to streamline its operations and eliminate redundancies, aligning with Trump's campaign promise to reduce regulatory burdens.

Furthermore, Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm catering to financial industry clients, cultivating a reputation for favoring market-driven innovation.

Atkins' potential appointment signals a broader shift in regulatory priorities, aligned with the Trump administration's crypto-friendly approach. During his campaign, Trump embraced crypto, promising to establish a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, appoint crypto-supportive regulators, and end the current administration's “anti-crypto crusade.”

Notably, the approach of the President-elect administration sharply contrasts with that of Gensler, who will step down on Jan. 20. He applied a “regulation by enforcement” approach to the crypto industry, cracking down on major crypto firms such as Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple.

Additionally, blockchain industry players claim that Gensler's administration failed to give regulatory clarity on what tokens are securities, making it harder to be compliant under US rules.

Another name for the contest

Atkins' name is among several candidates vetted for the role. Others include current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Heath Tarbert, and Robert Stebbins, a Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner.

The list already included former Binance.US executive Brian Brooks, Robinhood's chief legal officer Dan Gallagher, and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.