Insights

The Hill: Trump’s Wall Street Cop Will Clean up Obama’s Financial Regulatory Mess

In a guest column in The Hill, Paul Atkins explains that “between 2009 and 2016, critical operational issues and infrastructure problems were ignored as the SEC strayed from its tripartite mission of protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring efficient capital markets.”

Atkins cites the suite of investment management-focused rulemakings advanced at the SEC in 2015 and 2016 as a prime example of the agency’s previously misguided agenda. The solution? Atkins writes that “the SEC should re-examine, modify, and potentially rescind overly-complex mutual fund regulations, such as its fund data reporting and liquidity risk management rules.”

Atkins argues the agency should address its well-documented organizational deficiencies and prioritize its statutory mandate to protect and enhance our capital markets. He says SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is the right person to do the job as his response to the recent discovery of the SEC’s 2016 cybersecurity breach shows.

/
by
/
Tags:
/
By: Paul Atkins

CNBC: Atkins on Outlook for Regulating Cryptocurrencies, Tokens, and Initial Coin Offerings

In a CNBC interview, Patomak Global Partners Chief Executive Paul Atkins discusses his efforts leading a voluntary effort by major companies in the blockchain technology space to develop guidelines for issuers and investors of digital assets,…

Forbes: Token Alliance Launches To Promote Best Practices For ICOs

Forbes reporter Laura Shin writes:

Monday, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade association for the digital asset and blockchain industry, launches the Token Alliance, which aims to educate, promote and shape the world of crypto assets and token sales.

Its co-chairs have backgrounds that will be of great interest to token issuers: Dr. Jim Newsome, the former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Paul Atkins, a former Securities and Exchange Commissioner.

Insurance News Net: SEC Should Have Been The Agency to Deal With Fiduciary, Ex-Chief Says

InsuranceNewsNet reporter John Hilton writes:

Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul S. Atkins expressed disappointment this morning with Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta's initial handling of the controversial fiduciary rule.

/
by
/
Tags:
/
By: Patomak Global Partners

Bloomberg Law: Ex-SEC Commissioner Atkins Blames IPO Dearth on Regulations

Bloomberg's Andrew Ramonas reports:

Regulatory costs are a major hindrance to companies going public, former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins said today.

/
by
/
Tags: ,
/
By: Patomak Global Partners

Milken Institute Global Conference: First 100 Days–and the Next 1,000

Tune in at 1:45pm Eastern on May 1 to hear Patomak CEO Paul Atkins give his take on the Trump Administration’s financial markets regulatory reform efforts at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

CNBC: Atkins on Clayton Nomination Hearing, IPOs, and Reg NMS

Paul Atkins, Patomak Global Partners CEO and former SEC commissioner, discusses the confirmation hearing for Trump's pick to head the SEC, Jay Clayton, and the deregulatory push from the administration.

/
by
/
Tags:
/
By: Patomak Global Partners

WSJ: SEC Advances Regulation Efforts Even as White House Signals Rollback

Wall Street Journal CFO's Tatyana Shumsky writes:

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it is marching ahead with inspections, company filing reviews and enforcement of financial regulations, even though the new administration is painting a future free from such rules.

/
by
/
Tags:
/
By: Patomak Global Partners

Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Provide Guidance to Investment Advisers on Compliance Requirements for Robo-Advisers

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management recently issued guidance for investment advisers about the use of robo-advisers, including suggestions on how to fulfill disclosure, suitability, and compliance requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, “given the unique challenges and opportunities presented by these programs."

/
by
/
Tags:
/
By: Patomak Global Partners

WSJ: SEC Says Conflict Minerals, Pay Ratio Rules Remain in Force

Wall Street Journal CFO reporter Tatyana Shumsky writes:

Companies must continue to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules on disclosing “conflict minerals” and the ratio comparing executive pay to the median employee, said Shelley Parratt, acting director of the SEC’s division of corporation finance, on Friday.

SEC acting chairman Michael Piwowar in recent weeks has requested public comment on the two provisions of the Dodd-Frank overhaul law. Mr. Piwowar also instructed SEC staff to look at the rule mandate and see if alternate interpretations could offer some relief to companies trying to comply.