‘Harmonization, Not Merger’: SEC Chair Paul Atkins Shuts Down SEC and CFTC Union Rumors

The Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) Chair Paul S. Atkins has dismissed hypothesis a couple of merger between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC), stating that the main target is as an alternative on “harmonization” of regulatory oversight.

Talking at immediately’s SEC–CFTC Joint Roundtable on Regulatory Harmonization, Atkins informed reporters that crypto stays the company’s prime precedence and clarified that long-standing merger rumors are unfounded.

“Our focus is on harmonization, not on a merger between the SEC and CFTC,” Atkins mentioned, pushing again on hypothesis that has resurfaced with each new administration.

U.S. Regulators Transfer Towards Unified Digital Asset Framework in Joint SEC–CFTC Occasion

Atkins described immediately’s gathering as “a turning level for U.S. monetary markets,” indicating a shift from years of siloed approaches.

“For years, the SEC and CFTC have labored in silos, generally at odds. Now, we’re paving a unified path ahead,” he mentioned.

The roundtable marks one of the crucial essential joint occasions to this point between the 2 regulators, bringing collectively Wall Road executives, policymakers, and main crypto corporations.

The agenda options three panels analyzing how nearer coordination might reshape oversight of platforms, members, and digital asset companies. Individuals span each conventional finance and crypto, with audio system from Nasdaq, CME Group, ICE, Kraken, Polymarket, Kalshi, Crypto.com, Citadel, Robinhood, WisdomTree, and main U.S. banks.

Atkins framed harmonization as vital to forestall monetary improvement from transferring offshore. “The fragmented, convoluted system ends now,” he mentioned. “With no unified strategy, America dangers ceding management within the subsequent chapter.”

He pledged that each businesses would work “in lockstep” to align oversight, streamline reporting, and coordinate exemptions for innovation underneath present legal guidelines.

The message represents a pointy departure from the earlier administration, which continuously clashed over digital asset jurisdiction. “This ends now,” Atkins declared.

“It’s certainly a brand new day on the CFTC and SEC. Collectively, our businesses will guarantee the subsequent chapter of monetary innovation is written proper right here within the U.S.”

In a joint assertion issued earlier this month, Atkins and Appearing CFTC Chair Caroline D. Pham emphasised the necessity to harmonize definitions, align capital and margin necessities, and cut back pointless obstacles to innovation.

“By working in lockstep, our two businesses can harness our nation’s distinctive regulatory construction right into a supply of power,” they mentioned, framing immediately’s discussions as a “pivotal step” for market readability.

The occasion, held at SEC headquarters in Washington, runs from 1 p.m. to five:30 p.m. ET and is open to the general public with a reside webcast on the SEC’s web site.

Opening remarks have been delivered by Atkins, Pham, and SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, whereas closing remarks have been anticipated from Commissioner Hester Peirce.

Atkins described the trouble as a steadiness between defending traders and supporting entrepreneurs. “Markets, like rivers, have a manner of discovering new channels the place as soon as there have been separate streams,” he mentioned. “Our job is to mix investor protections with an innovation-friendly strategy.”

The roundtable comes amid rising strain for clearer digital asset oversight. With crypto flagged because the SEC’s prime precedence, immediately’s dialogue alerts a coordinated try by regulators to carry larger coherence to U.S. markets with out restructuring their businesses.

U.S. Accelerates Push Towards a Bitcoin Reserve, Market Construction Invoice

The talk over a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve is gaining momentum alongside sweeping legislative reforms geared toward reshaping crypto regulation.

On September 23, SEC Chair Paul Atkins urged Congress to fast-track the Crypto Property Market Construction Act, stressing the necessity for a unified framework between the SEC and CFTC.

Chatting with Fox Enterprise, Atkins pointed to the GENIUS Act, which granted statutory recognition to stablecoins earlier this yr, as proof of bipartisan progress.

He emphasised that the subsequent precedence is aligning the SEC and CFTC via joint rulemaking to cut back regulatory uncertainty.

The White Home has set an bold timeline, anticipating the market construction invoice to succeed in President Trump’s desk by the top of 2025.

At Korea Blockchain Week, White Home Digital Property Council government director Patrick Witt confirmed expectations for passage, calling it a step towards lowering ambiguity in a $4 trillion market.

Senate Democrats have pressed for a bipartisan course of, warning in opposition to advancing a Republican-led draft the ultimate enter.

In parallel, the SEC is making ready an “innovation exemption” to let crypto corporations launch merchandise with out fast compliance hurdles.

Atkins described it as a shift towards fostering innovation and inspiring tokenization in U.S. markets, framing it as a part of Trump’s ambition to make the nation the “crypto capital of the planet.”

In the meantime, the White Home is vetting candidates to steer the CFTC, which might quickly achieve expanded authority over digital commodities underneath pending laws.

Former officers Josh Sterling, Mike Selig, and Tyler Williams are amongst these being thought-about as lawmakers in search of a gradual hand to supervise Bitcoin and different spot markets.

With each Congress and regulators transferring in tandem, the prospect of a U.S. Bitcoin Reserve and broader crypto framework is edging nearer to actuality.

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