The SEC’s Agenda Is Out – Now What?

In the newly published Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory agenda this week, there were not many surprises – rulemaking around crypto assets and market structure, shrinking regulatory obligations for companies seeking to raise capital in the public markets, and increasing retail investor access to private markets, just to name a few. As expected, the SEC’s agenda represents a stark shift in priorities from the last administration. But the devil will be in the details: As of now, we have the broad themes, but it will take some time to know exactly how the SEC will proceed.

Interested audiences will have plenty of opportunities to influence what decisions the Commissioners and staff will make as they put pen to paper on proposed and final rules. The current SEC has emphasized its desire to hear from the market before making proposals, during longer comment periods, in public roundtables and in smaller meetings. In June, for example, the agency unanimously approved a concept release to get the market’s views on foreign private issuers accessing U.S. public markets before moving on to rulemaking. The agency also held a pre-rulemaking public roundtable on executive compensation as well as several high-profile roundtables on crypto markets. Each of these moments in time offers an opportunity to communicate – both with the SEC and, importantly, with other stakeholders and influencers to shape the rulemaking narrative.