Charlie McCreevy and Paul Atkins, speaking at a Finance Dublin conference in Dublin Castle in 2007
He has been an advocate for greater transparency and consistency in financial regulation, increasing the competitiveness of capital markets and improving investor protection - topics that he spoke about during his participation at Finance Dublin conferences in 2007 and 2008.
Looking ahead at the increased likelihood of growing tensions around trade under President-elect Trump's tariff strategy, Atkins' experience gained during his first stint at the SEC, when he represented the SEC at various international fora including the US-EU Transatlantic Economic Council and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, and deep understanding of the transatlantic financial services trade and regulatory dynamics can be seen as a positive sign for financial services in the US and Europe.
Ken O'Brien, editor of Finance Dublin in discussion with Paul Atkins, incoming chair of the US Securities & Exchange Commission
Atkins' knowledge of the Irish financial services industry, along with that of his SEC colleagues Dan Gallagher, a former director of the Irish Stock Exchange, and , SEC chair Jay Clayton will be welcomed by Irish Government envoys to the US, and regulators concerned with facilitating the implementation of transatlantic financial services trade opportunities, particularly in view of EU imperatives identified in the Draghi report this summer. Transatlantic cooperation in the financial services regulatory sphere will also serve as a conduit for offsetting potential transatlantic trade tensions in the manufacturing and commodities areas.
Payments, crypto, and the development and marketing of digitalised assets will be at the centre of industry focus and regulation in the next five years, and what happens in the USA will be critically affected by the regulatory environment there. The announcement by incoming President Trump of the appointment as new chairman of the SEC this week of Paul Atkins (December 3rd) was marked as significant in financial markets as ushering in a markedly different regulatory approach compared with outgoing chair Gary Gensler
Atkins and his SEC Commissioner colleagues Dan Gallagher and Jay Clayton have spoken at many Finance Dublin conferences in Dublin Castle, the first two in 2007 and 2008, when Atkins met the then EU Financial Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, discussing the best approach to regulation of credit rating agencies, subsequently identified as a critical issue with regard to the causation of the great financial crisis, and the establishment of capital buffers in ABS issuances. Gallagher, and Clayton have, as Commissioner, and Chairman of the SEC, respectively, consistently championed public markets and consumer protection, particularly in the digital assets and crypto areas.