Atkins testified before House Financial Services this week and put a number on regulatory burden: $2.7 billion annually, just for public companies to prepare and file SEC disclosures. That's not enforcement costs. That's just compliance paperwork.
His argument: those billions don't go to innovation or growth. They go to lawyers and consultants producing documents that often obscure more than they clarify. He cited the 40% drop in listed companies since the mid-'90s as evidence that over-regulation is killing the IPO pipeline.
The three-pillar plan: root disclosures in financial materiality (not political noise), refocus shareholder meetings on core business matters, and reform securities litigation to stop frivolous suits without undermining fraud protection.
For crypto? He's targeting an "innovation exemption" within a month — temporary regulatory relief for on-chain products, ending the regulation-by-enforcement era. PCAOB budget cut 9.4%. SEC budget flat. The agency is signaling a structural shift toward capital formation, not compliance theater.