Trump’s SEC pick grilled on past agency actions, conflicts of interest

Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Securities and Exchange Commission, on Thursday faced questions from lawmakers on his past regulatory stances and business dealings.

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee were especially interested in hearing about how Atkins, who served as a commissioner at the SEC under former President Bush, felt securities regulators handled market risks before the 2008 financial crisis.

Atkins has historically maintained that the 2008 crash had “many causes,” but “deregulation,” as top Committee Democrat Elizabeth Warren suggested, was not one.

“What really troubles me is that Congress still has yet to address the real root cause, and that was the subprime mortgage crisis,” Atkins added.

Some senators mentioned digital assets, and Atkins himself even took a moment to acknowledge the industry in his prepared remarks at the start of the hearing. He did not however face any specific inquiries about his plans for regulating the asset class.

Atkins hopes to provide “clear rules of the road” for crypto companies, he said. Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott said he hopes Atkins and Comptroller of the Currency nominee Jonathan Gould work to address unfair discrimination against cryptocurrency firms, particularly when it comes to banking.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her opening statement accused Atkins of “helping billionaire CEOs like Sam Bankman-Fried.” She added that his personal business dealings present conflicts of interest she feels he has not adequately addressed.

Atkins, who founded consulting firm Patomak Global Partners after his first stint at the SEC, has a net worth of at least $327 million, according to filings with the Office of Government Ethics. Atkins has said he will sell his stake in the company should he be confirmed, but he did not confirm if he would publicly reveal the details of such a deal.

“No, you’re not going to tell us how much money you get — to people who will have business in front of the SEC?” Warren wondered in relation to these potential buyers. “You know, some people might call that a pre-bribe.”

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
Lightspeed: All things Solana.
The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.