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Dear SEC Colleagues,
Sometimes, life comes full circle. In October 2006, I joined the Commission as counsel to then-Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. One of his other counsels was Hester Peirce. Today, I take great pride in seeing Paul sworn in as the next Chairman of the Commission.
Now, the transition set in motion by the voters last November is complete. It has been an honor to serve as your Acting Chairman since President Trump signed my designation three months ago.
At the outset, I asked for your patience as we worked to respond and implement the new directions and executive orders from President Trump. I am grateful that you gave it to me.
During the last three months, you have worked hard to advance our mission. At the same time, we bid farewell to many colleagues who opted to retire or otherwise leave the Commission.
We have accomplished many things since January. We established the Crypto Task Force and withdrew enforcement actions in registration-only crypto cases. We replaced SAB 121 and held public roundtables on what regulation of crypto should look like. We provided guidance, including updates to Schedule 13G eligibility, changed FAQs for the Advisers Act marketing rule, and issued Staff Legal Bulletin 14M on shareholder proposals. We removed personally identifiable information from the Consolidated Audit Trail.
We dropped our defense of the climate rule and withdrew the appeal of the dealer rule. We extended certain compliance dates where needed to avoid market disruption, such as the clearing of U.S. Treasury securities. We successfully oversaw the markets during periods of record-breaking trading activity. We resumed having in-person Commission meetings and managed the return to office.
None of these accomplishments could have been done without your efforts. I also want to recognize the contributions of the Division and Office leaders as well as my personal staff in the Acting Chairman’s office. Thank you.
I look forward to returning to my regular role as a Commissioner and working on behalf of investors, issuers, and market participants. See you around!
Mark
