SEC Chairman Critiques Biden Administration’s Financial Policies

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins criticized Joe Biden on Tuesday, accusing the former president’s administration of misusing financial regulations to further progressive agendas. Speaking at a Wall Street event, he expressed his commitment to “make IPOs great again.”

Atkins took aim at burdensome disclosure rules related to environmental and social governance, calling them “regulatory mischief.” He claimed that these regulations have been weaponized by the Biden administration and its supporters to push a political and social agenda.

“The path to public ownership is becoming narrower and more costly, laden with rules that often hinder rather than help,” the 68-year-old attorney stated.

He argued that these trends diminish America’s global competitiveness, locking out everyday investors from vibrant companies and pressuring entrepreneurs to find funding outside the U.S.—either in private markets or abroad.

“Years of rulemaking have led to a maze of red tape that obscures rather than clarifies,” Atkins remarked, referring to the lengthy annual reports and proxy statements that can overwhelm investors and impose high costs on companies.

His remarks come as the last Democratic SEC commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, is set to leave her position next month, leaving only Republican appointees, including Atkins, Hester M. Peirce, and Mark T. Ueda in charge.

Atkins, who previously worked at the SEC in the 1990s, used this critique to connect with a broader historical context as America nears its 250th anniversary in 2026. He defended the nation’s capitalist foundations and advocated for a return to the economic ideals of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

“Hamilton saw that properly structured markets could unleash America’s potential in ways no monarch or government could,” Atkins told an assembly of officials and bankers.

He emphasized that America’s prosperity isn’t just a historical accident, and the nation’s future is uncertain. “Recently, our regulatory framework has deviated from the original principles that made America a leader,” he added, noting a significant drop in publicly traded companies in the U.S. from over 7,000 in the mid-1990s to around 4,200 today.

In a July interview, Atkins mentioned the possibility of merging the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to cope with the expanding U.S. cryptocurrency market, noting that the merger “makes a lot of sense,” especially where jurisdictions overlap.

This story is still developing; please check back for updates.