In December of last year we posted on Hunton’s Retail Law Resource Blog about the changing of the guard at the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) with the new administration. Paul Atkins was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025, and sworn in as the 34^th Chairman of the SEC on April 21, 2025.

The Practicing Law Institute annually presents a conference titled “SEC Speaks” in cooperation with the SEC, and Chairman Atkins spoke on his agenda at this year’s program on May 19, 2025. Chairman Atkins began by stating his intent to discuss innovation and how the SEC should “embrace and champion it” rather than fear it. He provided a recent history lesson of progress that has come from a proactive SEC. His timeline started with the computerization of securities in the 1970s, highlighted other innovation such as the earliest exchange-traded fund launching in the 1990s, and led us to his first agenda point titled “Crypto Innovation” in his written remarks. Chairman Atkins announced that Commission staff across policy divisions has been directed to begin drafting crypto proposals and to “maintain transparent interactions with the public” to help provide useful insights. We should expect the SEC to provide clear rules related to crypto under this administration, but an anticipated date for such was not provided.

Continuing with his theme of innovation, the second point of Chairman Atkins’s agenda was to integrate the functions of the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“FinHub”) into other parts of the agency. Chairman Atkins explained that FinHub was created during a critical time of emerging technologies but believes it is too small to be efficient for more than its current focus. Congress has to approve the reprogramming, but integrating the priorities FinHub was founded under into the culture of the SEC will be key for Chairman Atkins. 

The third point of Chairman Atkins’s agenda was on investing in private funds. Specifically, to reconsider the practice and 23-year position of the SEC that investments by closed-end funds of 15% or more of their assets in private funds should impose minimum initial investment requirements and restrict sales that satisfy the accredited investor standard. Chairman Atkins noted that important disclosure issues need to be considered and resolved, but we should expect to see more on this. Finally, Chairman Atkins announced that he had instructed the SEC staff to undertake a comprehensive review of the Consolidated Audit Trail (“CAT”). He requested the costs of the system be examined, as well as reporting requirements and the scope of what is collected by the CAT.

From beginning to end, the new Chairman highlighted promoting innovation. We will continue to watch for the written and spoken guidance of the SEC to see how they “embrace and champion” these above agenda points.