Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pressed Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins on Wednesday to disclose to whom he sold his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners — stating his financial ties to the industries he now regulates "raise serious concerns" about his ability to avoid conflicts of interest.
“For sixteen years prior to your confirmation as Chair, you led Patomak as founder and CEO," Warren said in a letter. "In this role, you worked with several clients that are regulated by the SEC, including banks, credit unions, fintechs, derivative clearing organizations, futures commission merchants, insurance companies, banking-as-a-service firms, and non-bank consumer lenders."
Warren went on to state the Atkins' "impartiality will be critical in upholding the nation’s securities laws and promoting trust in our capital markets — which is why, on March 20, 2025, you signed an ethics agreement committing to divesting certain interests.”
Atkins' clients at Potomak paid him "north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC," Warren stated. "Now that you are confirmed, you are positioned to deliver for all of those clients who paid Patomak millions of dollars for years. Avoiding the appearance of impropriety goes hand-in-hand with your ability to effectively regulate securities markets."
The senator also pressed Atkins for records on other investments that he divested from since becoming SEC chair, stating that Office of Government Ethics filings show he has "only provided documentation confirming your divestments to date. This information does not disclose the buyer or sale amount. It is imperative that you also disclose who the buyers are and how much they paid, to ensure that they are not people who are just buying access to the chair of the SEC.”
“Further, even though disclosure of at least some of your remaining divestments is not required on public OGE filings, detailed information regarding your divestments is essential to ensuring that your conflicts of interest have been mitigated,” Warren said.
She requested information regarding the status of Atkins’s divestments by Aug. 18.
Credit: National Law Journal
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