Paul S. Atkins has assumed his new role as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission after being sworn into office last week, the SEC announced.
Atkins, whose nomination by President Trump was confirmed by the Senate by a 52-44 vote, was sworn in by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during an Oval Office ceremony at the White House. Atkins, who becomes the 34th SEC Chairman, previously served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008.
“I am honored by the trust and confidence President Trump and the Senate have placed in me to lead the SEC,” said Chairman Atkins. “As I return to the SEC, I am pleased to join with my fellow Commissioners and the agency’s dedicated professionals to advance its mission to facilitate capital formation; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and protect investors. Together we will work to ensure that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business.”
Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepped down when Trump was inaugurated in January. While Gensler led a crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry, Atkins is a crypto advocate and said at his confirmation hearing that “a top priority of my chairmanship will be to work with my fellow commissioners and Congress to provide a firm regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, coherent, and principled approach.”
Mark Uyeda, whom Trump named as acting SEC Chair on Jan. 20, will return to his former role as the SEC commissioner.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
During his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on March 27, Atkins told lawmakers: “It’s time to reset priorities and return common sense to the SEC.” He said other priorities would be to “increase the morale of the agency, cure some of the dysfunction that’s there and get back to work — get back to basics.”
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