‘The policy advocate running the show': Trump's SEC pick draws concern from the left

Yahoo

26-03-2025

Paul Atkins has helped Wall Street banks, cryptocurrency startups and countless financial industry groups navigate Washington regulations.
Now, as President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is poised to become the one crafting the rules.
Atkins is viewed across the political spectrum as a highly qualified choice for chair and is likely to be approved by the Senate. But his work advising the financial world over the decade and a half since he left the agency after serving as a commissioner is stirring concern on the left that he'll be overseeing many of his one-time clients as he seeks to undo the sweeping legacy of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
'We certainly need people who are knowledgeable and experienced, but that's different from having spent a career [working] on behalf of the very people who will come in front of the agency and who may be future clients as well,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, which will hold his nomination hearing Thursday, said in an interview. 'The American people deserve to know that whoever represents them in these agencies is working on behalf of the American people — not past and future clients.'
In a letter Sunday, Warren pressed Atkins for details about his work advising clients through his influential consultancy, Patomak Global Partners, and questioned whether he would be able to avoid conflicts of interest as SEC chair.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, another senior member of the Banking Committee, said, 'I have a lot of questions about Paul Atkins' prior experience and his ability to lead an SEC that is independent, transparent, and rigorous in fulfilling its duty to protect Americans and the integrity of our financial markets."
The concerns underscore a broader fear among progressives about the Trump administration's ties to the business world, a connection that is bringing about a far friendlier era for corporate America after many industries came under fire from President Joe Biden's watchdogs like Gensler.
Incoming SEC chairs often hail from financial companies or law firms and face questions about potential conflicts. But Atkins' ties to Wall Street are far from ordinary, critics say.
Patomak has done work for a who's who of finance. Atkins' financial disclosures, released Tuesday, showed that his consultancy has worked for Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments and Guggenheim Partners, among many other major firms. And that's in addition to its work for Washington trade groups like the Investment Company Institute, the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable — all of which regularly lobby and appear before the SEC.
He has served as an expert witness for companies fighting the SEC in court like AT&T and the high-speed trading firm Virtu Financial, according to court records. (Atkins recently stepped away from the Virtu case, which is ongoing.) And he's been a ubiquitous voice in high-profile SEC policy fights over everything from climate disclosure and crypto enforcement to corporate penalties, potentially heralding a pivotal era of deregulation at the agency.
'He's been arguing for policy,' said Bart Naylor, financial policy advocate for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. 'And now, you have the policy advocate running the show.'
To be certain, Atkins is widely seen as one of the foremost experts on the SEC and financial regulation. He served as a commissioner in the 2000s, after previously working at the agency for then-Chairs Richard Breeden, a Republican, and Arthur Levitt, a Democrat. He has been called 'the intellectual godfather' for Republicans on capital markets policy. For many, Atkins' time working with industry is a significant asset.
"Politically motivated attacks from leftist professional partisans over so-called 'conflicts' are wholly unsurprising, and in fact are an expected play out of their failed manifesto," a transition spokesperson said of the concerns about Atkins' background. "How professional politicians could twist years of experience against a highly qualified nominee shows just how broken politics in Washington has become."
The spokesperson, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, said Atkins has gone through a review of his assets with both the SEC's ethics office and the Office of Government Ethics and is "in full compliance."
Former SEC Chair Mary Jo White, who led the agency during the Obama administration, said Atkins' industry experience "will make him a stronger chair."
"If you have no issues, you may not have the background for the position," White said in an interview.
Atkins founded Patomak in 2009 after leaving the SEC. In the years since, he has built the firm into a highly sought-after consulting shop, advising a range of clients on everything from due diligence on potential investments to preparation for SEC examinations.
Located just a short walk from the White House, the firm's ranks are filled with former senior officials from the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Capitol Hill. They include former CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers, former acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika and former SEC Commissioner Kathleen Casey. Other Patomak clients from over the years have included Bank of America, Barclays and even Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, according to Atkins' financial disclosures and public records.
A person familiar with the matter, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, said Patomak was specifically an adviser to FTX's U.S.-regulated derivatives business, which ultimately survived the company's eventual implosion.
In his ethics agreement, Atkins stated that he plans to divest his more than $25 million stake in the firm, if confirmed. He has also agreed to recuse himself from any matter involving Patomak or anyone represented by the firm for one year after his resignation, unless previously approved to do so.
Still, for Dennis Kelleher, who leads the financial reform advocacy group Better Markets, Atkins is 'a classic case of the Washington revolving door.'
He is 'going to be in a position to deliver for his clients on the very positions that he represented them in opposition to the SEC,' Kelleher said.
Public Citizen has criticized Atkins' selection as SEC chair over concerns about his past work with the crypto industry. And Warren wrote to Atkins that his relationships with former clients 'may raise doubts' about his impartiality as SEC chair.
But others like former SEC Commissioner Joe Grundfest question whether Atkins' case is all that unusual. Many of the agency's leaders — from Joseph Kennedy, its first chair, to Jay Clayton, who led the SEC in the last Trump administration — have faced similar questions about potential conflicts. And as long as Atkins follows the appropriate ethics rules, Grundfest said, he should be treated no differently.
Whether lawmakers like his policies, however, is another matter.
"Look, I don't think there's ever been a more transparent candidate for the SEC chairmanship than Paul Atkins in the sense of he's got a very long record," Grundfest said. "He's written many articles, he's given many speeches, he's written many dissents, and my expectation is that he will be authentic and he will try to follow through on the points of view that he's articulated. Now, some members might like that. Some members might not like that. But from that perspective, he's an open book."
Eleanor Mueller contributed to this report.