Compliance April 10, 2025

Senate Confirms Paul Atkins as SEC Chairman

The founder and chief executive of Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Patomak Global Partners was also an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2002 through 2008.

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In a 52 to 44 vote, the Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Paul Atkins as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Atkins, founder and chief executive of Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Patomak Global Partners, was also an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2002 through 2008, focusing on the financial services industry and securities regulation. His nomination as SEC chair was announced in December 2024. Mark Uyeda had been the SEC’s acting chair since January after Gary Gensler, who held the role during the administration of former President Joe Biden, stepped down.

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Paul Atkins

After leaving the SEC, Atkins founded Patomak Global Partners, which provides consulting services to financial services firms on regulatory issues, new products, business strategy and corporate governance. One of Atkins’ focus areas has been supporting and developing best practices for the use of digital assets and trading platforms to expand the market for cryptocurrency.

Gensler was critical of digital assets and publicly skeptical of incorporating them more fully into markets. Appointed by Biden in April 2021, Gensler was known for both rigorous rulemaking and enforcement.

Industry Response

“ICI congratulates Paul Atkins on his confirmation as the next SEC Chairman. He is a champion for investors and the markets, possessing a deep understanding of the critical role regulated funds play in our financial ecosystem. We hope Chairman Atkins will take swift action on policies recommended by ICI in the interest of 120 million American investors,” said Investment Company Institute President and CEO Eric J. Pan in a statement. “These policies include actions that will allow funds to have both ETF and mutual fund share classes, improve access for retail fund investors to private markets strategies, and reform the fund proxy system.”

Dale Brown, president and CEO of the Financial Services Institute, said in a statement: “We congratulate Paul Atkins on his confirmation as SEC Chair. Now is a pivotal time in the history of the markets with rapid technological advancements, evolving investor expectations and the emergence of innovative financial products. We encourage Chair Atkins and the SEC staff to update regulations and guidance to align with these advancements, allowing the financial services industry to best serve clients in the modern marketplace while continuing to ensure investor protection. With the ongoing market volatility and economic uncertainty, the need for professional, objective financial advice has never been greater. The rules of the regulatory road must be clearly defined so financial eand firms can confidently and effectively serve Main Street American investors.” 

Wayne Chopus, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute, said in a statement: “IRI congratulates Chairman Atkins on his confirmation to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We look forward to working with him and the Commission to ensure continued, strong consumer protection within a regulatory framework that fosters innovation, strengthens market access, and supports a secure path to retirement for all Americans.”

According to Chopus, IRI will encourage the SEC to reconsider and ultimately withdraw the proposed rule on predictive data analytics and the proposed amendments to the registered investment adviser custody rule. The organization’s statement also said another key priority is for the SEC to adopt electronic delivery as the default method for required disclosures.
Compliance April 10, 2025

Former Acting Labor Secretary Su Outlines “Risks” From a Weakened DOL Under Trump

In a commentary last week, Julie Su opined about “nightmares that could become the norm in a country without a strong U.S. Department of Labor.”

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Julie Su, acting secretary of labor in the Biden administration, wrote in a recent column that cuts being made by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency Service Temporary Organization are putting workers, and retirement and benefit plans, at risk.

Julie Su

Su, who is now a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, published an article on April 3 discussing the DOL’s accomplishments during Biden’s tenure.

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“That work will all be for naught if the Department of Labor is stripped and sold for parts to benefit corporations looking to pad their pockets at workers’ expense” Su wrote. “The DOL is facing significant cuts to staffing at the hands of the current administration’s chainsaw.”

Regarding health care and retirement, Su wrote that cuts to DOL will diminish enforcement and compliance efforts to “ensure employers are properly funding their retirement plans and that plans are making sound financial decisions to protect workers’ hard-earned retirement assets.”

The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration oversees 800,000 private retirement plans, 2.6 million health plans and 500,000 other benefit plans, Su wrote.

“DOL’s investigators are already grossly outnumbered, with just one investigator for every 14,000 benefit plans,” Su wrote. “Cuts to DOL would eliminate benefits advisers who answer phones and then advocate alongside desperate patients who have received a ‘coverage denied’ letter from their health plan.”

The Senate in March confirmed former Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as secretary of labor under President Donald Trump. A nomination hearing for Daniel Aronowitz, Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of labor to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration, has yet to be scheduled.

In addition to staffing cuts at the DOL and broadly across the federal government, advisory committees have also become targets, and the status of the ERISA Advisory Council is unclear.

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