WASHINGTON, D.C.—Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with the release of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins’s first rulemaking agenda:

“The SEC’s first rulemaking agenda under Paul Atkins should worry retail investors. The agenda reflects the SEC’s continued preoccupation under Chair Atkins with integrating crypto into the mainstream financial system. The fact that crypto assets remain highly speculative and volatile with no real use case means that the next crypto crash could not only punish retail investors but also threaten financial markets and the economy as a whole.

“Other than crypto, Chair Atkins admitted in his statement accompanying the agenda’s release that the intention is to adopt deregulatory rules. Make no mistake, this means the SEC intends to adopt rules that will favor Wall Street over Main Street. Exposing retail investors to risky private market assets, which Chair Atkins said is a priority, will only benefit the private funds that seek access to the $12 trillion in Americans’ retirement accounts.

“Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the SEC intends to invite public comment on ‘rethinking’ the Consolidated Audit Trail (the CAT). The importance of the CAT cannot be overstated. It provides the SEC with a repository of all information about an order. So it enables the SEC to identify the parties responsible for market disruptions, manipulations, and other abuses. The ‘rethinking’ of the CAT appears to be a precursor to its dismantling.

“These agenda items would make sense if Chair Atkins’s job was to promote the interests of the financial industry. But the SEC’s job is to be the investor’s advocate, and these agenda items betray the investors the SEC is supposed to protect. The release of the rulemaking agenda is just more evidence that Chair Atkins’s agenda is the industry’s agenda.

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.