Paul Atkins might transfer one step nearer to turning into the US Securities and Trade Fee’s new crypto-friendly chair, with a Senate committee listening to reportedly within the works for March 27.
President Donald Trump nominated Atkins to steer the SEC on Dec. 4, however his marriage right into a billionaire household has reportedly triggered complications with monetary disclosures — delaying his potential begin date.
Whereas it isn’t clear whether or not the White Home has produced these papers to the Senate, Senate Banking, Home and City Affairs Chair Tim Scott is reportedly eyeing a March 27 listening to to overview Atkins’ standing, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller said in a March 17 X submit.
“No readability but on whether or not the committee has Atkins’ paperwork in hand, however both approach, that is probably the most momentum we’ve seen up to now.”
Atkins would, nonetheless, must be voted in by the Senate at a later date.
Mueller additionally mentioned the Senate banking committee can be planning to carry a bipartisan assembly on Atkins’ nomination on March 21.
Supply: Eleanor Mueller
It follows an earlier March 3 Semafor report, the place Mueller mentioned monetary disclosures had held Atkins again from scheduling a Senate listening to to overview his standing.
His spouse’s household is tied to TAMKO Constructing Merchandise LLC — a producer of residential roofing shingles that reportedly turned over $1.2 billion in income in 2023, Forbes said on Dec. 14, 2024.
“It’s quite a bit to undergo,” one former Senate Banking Committee staffer reportedly advised Mueller on March 3.
“However he bought named so early on, so I feel that’s why individuals are beginning to be like, ‘What the hell’s taking so lengthy?’”
Atkins beforehand served as an SEC commissioner between 2002 and 2008 and labored as a company lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York earlier than that. He’s anticipated to manage the crypto enviornment with a extra collaborative method than former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
It’s been virtually 4 months since Atkins was chosen by Trump to steer the SEC on Dec. 4, and over two months since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
A late begin for an SEC chair wouldn’t be too uncommon, nonetheless.
The 2 most up-to-date SEC chairs, Gary Gensler and Jay Clayton, began on April 17, 2021, and Might 4, 2017 — months after presidential transitions occurred in these years.
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In the meantime, Mark Uyeda has been serving because the SEC’s performing chair since Gensler left on Jan. 20.
Since then, the Uyeda-led SEC has established a Crypto Task Force led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and canceled a controversial rule that requested monetary companies holding crypto to document them as liabilities on their steadiness sheets.
The SEC has dropped a number of investigations and lawsuits that the Gensler-led fee filed in opposition to the likes of Coinbase, Consensys, Robinhood, Gemini, Uniswap and OpenSea during the last month.
The SEC can be seeking to abandon a rule requiring crypto firms to register as exchanges and will even axe the Biden administration’s proposed crypto custody guidelines, Uyeda mentioned on March 17.
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