WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet, “SEC Chair Nominee Paul Atkins Must Answer for His Anti-SEC Record” ahead of Atkins’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee this Thursday:
“Paul Atkins, President Trump’s nominee to be the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has a remarkably long and disreputable record of being vigorously if not adamantly opposed to the very reasons the SEC exists. His many actions, including as a former SEC Commissioner from 2002-2008, failed to protect investors and markets and contributed to the catastrophic financial crash of 2008. While Atkins was focused on protecting Wall Street’s megafirms as a Commissioner and his many corporate clients thereafter, the value of the stock market fell by 50% between 2007 and 2009; it took ten years for the unemployment rate to return to 2007 levels; and 90% of Americans were poorer in 2016 than they were in 2007 (by an astounding 17% to 35%).
“In consistently siding with Corporate America, Wall Street’s megabanks, and the financial industry generally, Atkins appears to have been blind to the dangers that under-regulated and under-policed financial firms posed to hardworking Main Street Americans. For example, in July 2008, as the financial system was breaking right under his nose and just weeks before the crash, Atkins said that there was no need for more regulation because ‘what goes on in Wall Street does not necessarily translate to Main Steet.’ It is difficult to think of someone being more catastrophically wrong about a historically consequential event.
“Adding insult to injury, Akins formed a consulting firm within months of leaving the SEC and for the last 15 years or so has been working for many financial services firms subject to the SEC’s watch and apparently in opposition to many of the SEC’s priorities to protect investors, markets, and capital formation. This gives rise to genuine concerns about serious, multiple conflicts of interest between his clients and the very same firms the SEC under his direction will be responsible for regulating. The public will have a genuine basis to question who he is really working for: Main Street Americans or his past and presumably future clients.
“The SEC was created as the investor’s advocate to stand up for the public interest against the powerful forces of Corporate America, Wall Street’s megabanks, and gigantic financial firms. That’s why it is imperative that the SEC Chair be unconflicted, unbiased, and prioritize the interests of Main Street investors over the interests of the financial industry. Otherwise, investors will be ripped off, our markets will be less transparent and liquid, investor confidence and trust in those markets will evaporate, capital formation will suffer, and financial crises will ensue.
“The Fact Sheet we are releasing today highlights just ten of Atkins’s past actions and statements inconsistent with the SEC’s mission and mandates. These bear on his suitability to lead the SEC as Chair and he should be required to provide clear, direct, specific, and detailed answers to questions about his record during his nominating process.”
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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.
