BlockBeats reported on December 4 that according to CoinDesk, Paul Atkins is President-elect Donald Trump's top choice for SEC Chairman, but accepting the position would require many factors to align.
A person familiar with Atkins' thinking said that this role is not appealing to Atkins because he believes it would require a lot of work to turn around what he considers to be a bloated agency poorly managed by outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and Atkins is unwilling to leave his global consulting firm.
The idea of not wanting to clean up the 'mess' left by Gensler is consistent with former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Chris Giancarlo, who called for Atkins to take over as SEC Chairman and was once a candidate himself.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, was seen this week at Trump’s resort, according to an industry insider. He is scheduled to interview for the SEC Chairman position on Sunday and Monday, another person familiar with the meetings said.
Atkins is the founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a global consulting firm focused on strategy, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Patomak serves cryptocurrency companies, but they are just part of its diversified business, which also includes traditional financial clients, publicly traded companies, industry associations, law firms, banks, and insurance companies. Before founding Patomak, Atkins was a commissioner at the SEC, serving from 2002 to 2008, appointed by former U.S. President Bush. During his time at the SEC, Mark Uyeda and Hester Pierce worked under Atkins, with the latter also later becoming an SEC commissioner.