Trump’s SEC Chief Pushes To Scrap Quarterly Reporting, Says Market Regulator Has ‘Moved Away’ From Its Mandate Set Nearly A Century Ago – BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said he is considering replacing quarterly corporate reporting with a semi-annual model, in line with President Donald Trump’s push to loosen financial regulations.

To Pursue ‘Minimum Effective Dose’ of Regulations

On Monday, in an op-ed published in the Financial Times, Atkins said the SEC would explore eliminating mandatory quarterly disclosures for listed companies, arguing the move would reduce regulatory burdens and allow firms to operate more efficiently.

“The government should provide the minimum effective dose of regulation needed to protect investors while allowing businesses to flourish,” Atkins said.

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“Rules written for shareholders who seek to effect social change or have motives unrelated to maximising the financial return on their investment . . . fail investors,” he said.

Atkins said that the SEC has veered away from its original mission, saying the agency “has drifted from the precedent and predictability that sustain [trust in capital markets]” and moved away from “the clear mandate that Congress set for the agency over 90 years ago.”

Calling for more flexibility, Atkins said it’s “time for the SEC to remove its thumb from the scales and allow the market to dictate the optimal reporting frequency.”

Market Experts Split Over Proposal

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called the proposal “a bad idea whose time should never come,” adding that the American financial markets were built on “accountability and transparency,” and that “frequent accountability and substantial sharing of information have been central to that.”