President-Elect Trump Taps Paul Atkins to Serve as SEC Chair

On December 4, President-Elect Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins to serve as the next Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Currently, Atkins serves as the Chief Executive and founder of Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm that provides strategic, advisory, risk management, and litigation support to clients in the financial services sector. Prior to founding Patomak, Atkins served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008. He also served on the staffs of SEC Chairmen Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt as Chief of Staff and Counselor, respectively. In private practice, Atkins worked at both PwC and the law firm Davis Polk.

In 2002, Atkins was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a voice vote and should have a relatively clean path to confirmation. As part of the confirmation process, Atkins will fill out questionnaires and meet with many members of the Senate Banking Committee prior to his confirmation hearing which could be scheduled as early as March.

Atkins is widely known as a supporter of cryptocurrency and will likely focus on this area if confirmed. In a social media post, President-Elect Trump noted that Atkins “recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before." In his prior term as a Commissioner at the SEC, Atkins voted against Reg NMS in 2005 and will likely maintain a more “hands-off” approach to financial markets.

Click here to read Atkins’ biography on the Patomak Global Partners website.