In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul S. Atkins set out a programme to streamline and refocus the disclosure regime and other requirements he argued have made public ownership narrower and costlier, while directing staff to conduct a comprehensive review of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) and describing a joint effort with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to bridge toward federal crypto market-structure legislation. The testimony highlighted public-company reporting costs of USD 2.7 billion annually for annual reports and pointed to a long-term decline in the number of exchange-listed companies from more than 7,800 in the mid-1990s to 4,761 as of 30 September 2025. Atkins described a three-part approach centered on re-anchoring disclosures in materiality, refocusing shareholder meetings on significant corporate matters, and developing litigation alternatives for public companies. On digital assets, he backed passage of the CLARITY Act and said that, through Commissioner Hester Peirce’s Crypto Task Force and the SEC’s now-joint Project Crypto with CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, the agencies intend to consider a token taxonomy and potential exemptions to allow market participants to move and transact on-chain. On market oversight, Atkins said he has directed a review of the CAT covering governance, funding, cost-savings options including potential retirement of duplicative systems, design and functionality, scope, regulatory use and security. He cited recent cost reductions, including cutting the originally approved 2025 CAT budget, which included about USD 249 million in annual operating costs, by about USD 92 million over the course of the year, and SEC-approved amendments to the CAT NMS Plan for the Customer and Account Information System expected by self-regulatory organizations to save about USD 7 to 9 million annually, with further amendments proposed. He also pointed to a January 2026 approval of a USD 362.1 million Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget, down 9.4 percent year on year, and said enforcement is being refocused on fraud and investor harm, including a Cross-Border Task Force and trading suspensions in the stocks of fourteen Asia-based issuers since September on evidence of potential manipulation.
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission 2026-02-12
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair orders comprehensive Consolidated Audit Trail review and outlines joint Project Crypto with the CFTC
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, in Senate testimony, outlined a program to streamline disclosure requirements, reduce public-company reporting costs, review the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), and collaborate with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on crypto market-structure legislation. He emphasized a three-part disclosure approach, backed the CLARITY Act for digital assets, and highlighted cost reductions in CAT operations and a refocused enforcement strategy targeting fraud and investor harm.