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Every time I try to make a post something goes wrong and it gets erased and I am discouraged to start again. This time I tried to paste a sentence and got stuck on the plain text pop up. Saving as a draft doesn't work for me, Bold text has a bug where it types the first letter then jumps back to the first space. This is the third time I tried to make a meaningful post just for it to get deleted. I have come to the conclusion that it's not user error. I think I'll wait until the bugs are worked out to make my recommended book list. Vent over
Today the Senate Banking Committee held the confirmation hearing for Paul Atkins. I posted live on Bluesky and Twitter, here is my coverage/takeaways:
Atkins confirmation hearing starting now. Interesting excerpt from his written testimony. It's mostly focused on digital assets, which will likely be the theme of his tenure at the SEC.
"Clear rules of the road benefit all market participants"
This has been our exact point with our Reg SHO rulemaking petition. Reg SHO is unenforceable because terms like "bona fide" and "reasonable grounds" are completely subjective. Lawyers can lawyer them away. Atkins should embrace these changes.Sen Warren calling into question Atkins' judgement over choices made in 2008 financial crisis, that he didn't think regulators should get involved. Asks if he was "wrong" about it. Atkins points to many crisis causes, says he wasn't wrong about deregulation.
She points to bipartisan report that says SEC's deregulation played a role in the crisis. Next asks about co he founded, Patomak Partners - industry firms have been paying a lot of money for them to defend clients against SEC rules and enforcement actions.
Patomak is estimated to be worth $50M. He is going to sell it if confirmed. She asks if he will disclose who will buy the company if he's confirmed, and how much they pay. He refuses to commit to that disclosure.
Sen Thilis offers Atkins chance to respond to 2008 crisis causes. Atkins says real root cause was subprime mortgage crisis, and calls out Congress for not reforming Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.
Van Hollen asks whether Atkins will preserve role of PCAOB in the mission to ensure US-listed Chinese companies are held to high standards. Atkins says that he will. Van Hollen points to "special mention" of Atkins in Project 2025 in chapter that recommends PCAOB is abolished.
Van Hollen asks if Atkins is in favor of abolishing the PCAOB - Atkins says that the function of the PCAOB is essential but says it's not up to him, it's up to Congress. Atkins agrees that the statute says PCAOB cannot be unilaterally abolished by Executive branch.
Sen Kennedy: Mr. Atkins, is it true you were college roommates with Sen Haggerty?
Atkins: Yes Sen Kennedy: Is it true that Haggerty has a tattoo of the Back Street Boys on his back?
Sen Kennedy asks if Atkins thinks that SBF's parents should be charged? And whether it looks like a two-tiered justice system with them not being charged? Atkins doesn't commit to an investigation, doesn't know what the SEC has done or found.
Sen Kennedy: "Every time you come before this committee, I'm going to pounce on you like a ninja... I don't think the SEC has done anything... they're crooks and I expect the SEC to do something about it."
Kennedy makes an interesting point that CEOs of Chinese companies can insider trade because there's no period of time after they disclose material disclosures where they cannot trade. US companies are subjected to 2 day waiting period. Kennedy urges Atkins to fix this.
Atkins: Yes, but only through news reports.
Sen Reed asks about private equity exchange-traded fund. What transparency/disclosures should be in place for private equity and private market investments? Atkins talks about the need to make sure concentration in these funds isn't too high. Reed concerned about private co's that are too big.
Now Reed asks about SEC case against Musk regarding disclosure failures during Twitter takeover. What will you do if the DOGE team shows up, given this investigation?
Atkins: I don't know about the case, can't speak to that. Atkins would work with anyone trying to make agency more efficient.
Sen Britt is pleased that PII is no longer being collected by CAT, but asks Atkins to reevaluate the necessity of CAT and whether safeguards are there to protect data already collected.
Atkins: Absolutely.
Sen Smith asks about private funds - are they charging higher fees than public market counterparts?
Atkins: There is a range of fees, but being untruthful in these disclosures is a problem and SEC has authority to protect investors. Accredited investors have the means to manage this.
Sen Smith continues - private funds charge 4x the fees and often underperform. Should we do anything?
Atkins: these sophisticated investors hire advisors to determine whether they should invest in these funds, there are alternatives.
Sen Smith: It's the pensions of my constituents in these funds.
Warnock asks about 2008 financial crisis. Why did Wall St get bailed out, instead of Americans getting help they needed? Points out Atkins sat on TARP oversight committee. Warnock says that Atkins blamed 2008 financial crisis on overregulation of banks. Atkins blames Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac again.
Warnock - what was the big takeaway from the crisis?
Atkins: Overleveraging was not a good business practice. SEC was not focused on core rulemaking at the time. This was a distraction. Misregulation was the issue - focusing on the wrong things.
Warnock: Were we too hard on the banks?
Atkins: The distortions created through the regulatory scheme at the time helped to distract regulators.
Warnock: The banks got bailed out, the execs got bailed out, consumers did not.
Warnock: You've been critical of monetary fines - will SEC continue to fine companies?
Atkins: Yes
Atkins gets question on CAT. He says that he looks forward to looking into the status of the CAT. It's cost a lot of money, for both the SEC and market participants. He says it needs to be reviewed.
Project 2025 calls for termination of the CAT & Atkins was listed as "special contributor."
Atkins: I participated in a call or two on that, wasn't involved in drafting it. CAT has ballooned a lot since first approved, and needs to be reviewed. Things change over time. Is it focused on mission?
Sen Blunt Rochester: Concerned about your views on 2008 financial crisis causes. Did you get anything wrong?
Atkins: I was 1 of 5 Commissioners, I was not in charge. I disagreed with many things SEC Chair was pushing at the time, it distracted staff from overleveraging issues and Fannie/Freddie.
Sen Blunt Rochester: Do you agree with shuttering regional SEC offices, as the current admin has been doing?
Atkins: I'm not sure, I haven't been at the SEC for a long time. I don't remember if they were necessary when I was there, wasn't remit of a Commissioner, it's for the Chair.
Sen Alsobrooks: Acting Chair Uyeda asked SEC staff for a "loyalty pledge" when they were investigating Elon Musk on the Twitter matter. (I don't know what this is referring to) Will you commit to opposing political interference in enforcement?
Atkins: There won't be any when I'm Chairman.
Sen Banks: Manufacturing depends on intense capital investment, which has stagnated in recent years. JOBS Act has made it easier to sell stock, but there's a huge burden on companies to go public. How can SEC reduce that burden?
Atkins: 30% fewer companies listed today, much of that is reg burden.
Atkins: Regulatory burden & litigation risks have made public markets dysfunctional. SEC needs to fully implement JOBS Act, we need to reexamine that, and work with Congress to change statutes to "turbocharge new issues market." There's a lot of capital out there, but it's not coming to public mkts.
Sen Banks: Gensler focused on ESG. Does ESG investment make American's economy stronger? Atkins: I want to take politics out of how the SEC interacts with financial markets. That will end, we will have protections in place, so money managers are focused on actual investment strategies.
Atkins makes the point that money managers had distorted the corporate governance process to advance their ESG political agenda. Banks: We need investment in companies that actually make things.
Atkins: Agreed, distortions from ESG funds has impacted this.
And with the the hearing is adjourned. Atkins got nearly all the questions. Serious focus on 2008 crisis, CAT and his views towards Musk/enforcement. I was surprised a bit at some of his responses on CAT, I could see efforts to wind it down as a "cost savings." Very few questions on crypto.
