This profile originally appeared on No Corporate Cabinet, where Revolving Door Project helps to track the corporate insiders and top executives who Trump has picked to run the government, at the expense of working families.
Anti-Safeguard, Pro-Secret Money in Politics SEC Nominee
Whether inside or outside of government, Paul Atkins, Trump’s nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has spent his whole career undermining the federal government’s regulation of Wall Street.
Proponent of Deregulation
As an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008, Atkins was “the most conservative member” of a Republican majority at the agency in the lead-up to the global financial crisis. As a self-described champion of the “free market,” Atkins insisted upon the SEC’s use of cost-benefit analyses, a flawed methodology favored by the right because it’s easy to weaponize it to justify deregulation. True to form, Atkins opposed several rule proposals, including some supported by SEC Chair William Donaldson, a fellow Republican. For instance, Atkins opposed greater oversight of hedge funds, stronger internal audit requirements, and an effort to lower costs for investors when purchasing stocks.
Anti-Dodd Frank
Atkins resigned as an SEC Commissioner in the summer of 2008, six weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed. Over the next several years, he was a “go-to conservative witness” at congressional hearings. He testified multiple times in opposition to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a law enacted to address the then-fresh financial crisis and prevent future ones.
During a 2015 appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, Atkins reiterated his anti-Dodd Frank talking points, including that: 1) the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s authority to designate entities within the financial services industry as systemically important financial institutions subject to stricter supervision is “dangerous”; 2) the SEC shouldn’t be authorized to require a uniform fiduciary duty for investment advisers and broker-dealers; 3) the Volcker rule’s attempt to limit commercial banks’ ability to trade with their own funds is harmful; and 4) stronger public company disclosure requirements amount to “social engineering through the federal securities laws.”
Atkins went so far as to argue that it is “naïve, egotistical, and simply wishful thinking” to “suggest that the government can control human action.” This suggests that Atkins, who has been characterized by others as a libertarian, considers financial crises to be inevitable. If not, then his ideological commitment to deregulation certainly increases the chances of another crash.
Anti-Climate Disclosure, Anti-ESG
More recently, Atkins has denounced an SEC rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose a portion of their exposure to climate risk, even though investors overwhelmingly supported a stronger version than what was finalized. Atkins complained that the rule would “tee up shifts of capital from fossil-fuel-based industries, such as oil production and heavy manufacturing, toward industries that are supposedly greener.” This implies that he rejects the scientific consensus that transitioning from a fossil fuel-based economy to an economy powered by renewable energy is necessary to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.
Atkins has also been a frequent critic of attempts to allow fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making investment decisions.
Would-Be Overhauler of the SEC
Atkins shaped Trump’s deregulatory agenda as a member of his 2016 transition team as well as his first-term economic advisory team, and as a contributor to Project 2025. Atkins helped author Project 2025’s chapter on the SEC and related agencies, which states that “the SEC and Congress should fundamentally reform the securities laws governing issuers, broker-dealers, exchanges, and other market participants.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Trump transition team asked Atkins “to provide ideas for restructuring the SEC, in line with the incoming administration’s promise to cut spending and rein in the size of federal agencies.” It’s noteworthy that Patomak Global Partners, the consulting firm that Atkins founded and leads, stands to benefit if the SEC outsources more examination work to consultancies.
If confirmed as SEC Chair, Atkins is expected to reverse the Biden administration’s progress on climate-related financial risk, create a favorable regulatory environment for crypto fraudsters, and weaken enforcement of laws against market manipulation.
Opponent of Enforcement
In addition to opposing many proposed regulations, Atkins frequently disapproved of enforcement actions during his previous stint at the SEC, earning himself the nickname “Commissioner No.” According to retired SEC enforcement attorney John Britt, Atkins was “the most hated commissioner” he can remember during his 31 years at the agency.
In 2006, Atkins infamously argued that allowing companies to grant stock options to executives before disclosing news that would increase the share price should not be considered insider trading. In Atkins’ words, “It is cheaper to pay a person with well-timed options than with cash.”
While at the SEC in the early 2000s, Atkins also opposed the agency’s decision to increase monetary penalties for corporate wrongdoing. In a law article co-authored with Brad Bondi, the brother of Trump’s Attorney General pick Pam Bondi, Atkins contended that large corporate penalties harm shareholders without necessarily deterring wrongdoing. Does Atkins’ objection to hefty corporate penalties mean that we can expect him to advocate for prosecuting individual wrongdoers to the full extent of the law? We won’t hold our breath.
Defender of Unlimited Corporate Political Power
Atkins has long disparaged progressive efforts to shape corporate behavior while praising conservative efforts to dominate politics.
At a Heritage Foundation held in 2012, Atkins accused unions, environmentalists, LGBTQ+ rights groups, and state pension funds of “co-opting and disenfranchising” companies through shareholder activism. At the same event, he applauded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-funded right-wing bill factory, as a “great organization.” At the time, some corporations were withdrawing funding from ALEC in response to complaints that its push for so-called “stand your ground” laws had contributed to the vigilante killing of Trayvon Martin.
In 2015, Atkins was the only one of 68 business leaders to refuse to endorse a report on how to combat “crony capitalism” in Washington, whose recommendations included reforming campaign finance laws and imposing stronger restrictions on the revolving door between lobbyists and Congress. In addition, he has defended the use of anonymous “dark money” in politics.
Allowing corporations and billionaires to hijack the political process with few to no checks on their power is inconsistent with the principles of democracy.
Founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners
In 2009, Atkins founded a consultancy called Patomak Global Partners to combat the Obama administration’s modest attempts to strengthen federal oversight of the financial industry. Described as a “government in exile for former Republican regulatory officials,” Patomak helps financial institutions and actors influence regulatory efforts, and it acts as a court-appointed monitor for businesses that have agreed to improve regulatory compliance.
Patomak CEO Atkins and other consultants at the firm—many of them with backgrounds at the SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Federal Reserve—advise a wide variety of financial sector clients on how to adhere to existing laws and dilute proposed regulations.
Notable Recent Client: FTX
In 2022, Patomak advised FTX in the months preceding the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse. The collapse was triggered by a run on deposits, which revealed that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had looted customer accounts to fund political donations, charitable giving, and entrepreneurial investments. Atkins, who has numerous ties to the crypto industry, ludicrously blamed the debacle on the Biden administration’s failure to enact “rules accommodating to this new technology.”
That Atkins failed to foresee and avoid FTX’s implosion reflects poorly on his competency as a potential regulator as well as the viability of his deregulatory views. Atkins should be made to answer why he thinks regulators tasked with protecting the public ought to make “accommodating” rules for crypto—an industry that provides so few positive benefits to society while worsening the climate crisis and facilitating fraudulent and criminal activities.
Conflicts of Interest
Patomak-Deutsche Bank
In October 2016, Patomak began monitoring Deutsche Bank’s agreement with the CFTC to oversee and disclose its derivatives trading. At the time, Deutsche Bank was negotiating with the Department of Justice over the size of its fine to settle mortgage-related wrongdoing. Also at that time, Deutsche Bank was Trump’s biggest creditor.
Such links raise major conflict of interest issues. For instance, did Patomak monitor Deutsche Bank vigorously? Did federal regulators, possibly nominated by Trump based on Atkins’ recommendation as a member of his 2016 transition team, go easy on Deutsche Bank in exchange for favorable treatment of Trump’s businesses?
Token Alliance, Securitize, and the cryptocurrency industry
Since 2017, Atkins has served as co-chair of the Digital Chamber’s Token Alliance, which lobbies against the robust regulation of blockchain-based financial instruments. It’s worth noting that the Digital Chamber, formerly the Chamber of Digital Commerce, paid more than $560,000 to Patomak for consulting services in 2021 and 2022 alone. Meanwhile, Atkins is also on the advisory board for Securitize, a digital securities issuance platform.
Those pro-crypto roles augment other work that Atkins has done on behalf of the digital asset industry in his role as the CEO of Patomak, which regularly advises crypto firms. That Atkins is so closely aligned with the crypto industry impedes his ability to fairly oversee it. Is it any wonder why crypto boosters celebrated Trump’s nomination of Atkins, with Bitcoin’s price hitting a record high?
Atkins has blamed the SEC for pushing crypto firms offshore and argued that the agency should be “more accommodating” to crypto firms to encourage them to operate in the U.S. He has also spoken favorably of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s Token Safe Harbor Act, a proposed rule that would give crypto companies greater legal leeway.
Duke University’s Lee Reiners warned that Atkins’ appointment as SEC Chair could unleash a “golden era” of “crypto fraud and scams.” Reiners and others have questioned how Atkins would handle the SEC’s ongoing investigations and litigation, including its lawsuit against Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange. Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher expects Atkins “to dismiss not only the Coinbase lawsuit but also any other active enforcement actions the regulator filed against a crypto firm.” Given Atkins’ ties to the industry, that would be a major conflict of interest.
Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund, Americans for Prosperity, and Social Security privatization
Atkins was an initial member of the advisory council at Americans for Prosperity, a right-wing political group funded by the billionaire Koch family. Among other things, Americans for Prosperity supports the privatization of Social Security.
Privatizing Social Security would benefit Wall Street investment firms while jeopardizing the retirement security of millions of U.S. residents. Atkins happens to be the trustee of the Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund. That begs the question: Would the investment fund that Atkins helps manage benefit if Social Security were privatized?