Ranking Member Warren Presses SEC Chair Nominee Paul Atkins on Conflicts of Interest, Record of Regulatory Failures Ahead of Nomination Hearing
“You also have significant potential conflicts of interest through your work on behalf of corporate interests—and a long record of advocating for weaker protections for investors and weaker rules to prevent wrongdoing by giant corporations.”
“You have been involved as a regulator or key adviser in historic failures of the financial system, including as an SEC Commissioner in the years before and during the 2008 financial crisis … you have also advocated for weaker SEC rules, including for Chinese accounting companies in the United States, at your corporate advisory firm”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair-Designate Paul Atkins ahead of his nomination hearing, pressing him on his regulatory failures ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, his involvement in failed crypto exchange FTX, and his conflicts of interest from his work with big banks and financial firms. In addition, the letter lays out a series of Ranking Member Warren’s questions for Atkins, including his views on the SEC’s independence, private capital raising, market structure issues, crypto regulation, and corporate governance. Ranking Member Warren also sent Mr. Atkins a letter asking him to mitigate his financial conflicts of interest by recusing himself on issues related to his corporate clients.
“The decisions you make as Chair will have significant implications for the long-term health of American commerce and economic growth. Your decisions will also have significant impacts on the lives of hardworking Americans, as they increasingly rely on the securities markets to save for retirement and achieve their financial goals.” wrote Ranking Member Warren.
Ranking Member Warren noted her serious concerns about Mr. Atkins’s record. As a commissioner at the SEC leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, he not only consistently downplayed the seriousness of the market issues that led to the crisis, but also voted in support of several measures that contributed to the financial crisis. Additionally, due to his role as an advisor to FTX – the cryptocurrency platform founded by Sam Bankman-Fried – in the time leading up to its collapse, Ranking Member Warren asked Mr. Atkins to explain his knowledge of the company’s mismanagement.
Ranking Member Warren also made clear how Mr. Atkins’s work as a high-paid regulatory consultant for big banks and financial firms poses a clear conflict of interest to be SEC Chair.
“Your financial ties to the industries you will soon regulate raise serious concerns about your ability to avoid conflicts of interest as a regulator. To that end, in October 2015, you were the only dissenter among dozens of business leaders who were asked to draft a report titled “Crony Capitalism: Unhealthy relations between business and government.” wrote Ranking Member Warren.
Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Ranking Member Warren concluded: “I ask that you come to your nomination hearing prepared to answer the questions in this letter, and that you provide written answers so that the Senate—and the American people—can better understand how you plan to lead this critical agency.”
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