'A race to the bottom': SEC's planned pullback on decades-old rules draws backlash [View all]
Source: Politico
09/20/2025 07:00 AM EDT
Paul Atkins is laying the groundwork for a major regulatory overhaul that could tilt the balance of power between public companies and their shareholders in favor of corporate America.
In his first year as Securities and Exchange Commission chair, Atkins is acting quickly to pull back on how much information Wall Street giants, gadflies and the public at large may get about a company’s financial health as well as their ability to take those companies to court.
The SEC’s moves portend a sea change in the relationship between thousands of public companies and their investors — a wide-ranging constituency that includes everyone from mom-and-pop traders and pension funds to sophisticated financial institutions charged with managing trillions of dollars on behalf of their customers.
“A lot of stuff has changed since 1970” when quarterly earnings reports became mandatory, Atkins told POLITICO on Friday. “So I don’t see why we can’t or shouldn’t look at it again and see what’s the current state and what people are looking for.” The plans have triggered concern among pension funds and investor advocacy groups, who fear that the changes could deprive them of key information about public companies, and have caused a split on the SEC itself.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/20/everythings-up-for-examination-secs-atkins-plots-a-new-era-for-corporate-america-00574194
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