SEC Enforcement Actions Drop 30% Under Paul Atkins: Report

Consulting firm Cornerstone Research reported that the number of enforcement actions taken by the current leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decreased significantly compared to under the previous administration.

In a report released Wednesday, Cornerstone reported that under SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, the number of enforcement actions against public companies and their subsidiaries decreased by approximately 30% in fiscal year 2025 compared to fiscal year 2024.

The company, citing former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, said the data is “consistent with the general pattern of other fiscal years where SEC administrations have changed.”

SEC enforcement actions from fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2025. source: cornerstone

Financial regulators dropped investigations and lawsuits against multiple crypto companies following Gensler’s resignation, but the report only mentioned the SEC’s case against Coinbase, which was dropped in February.

Earlier this week, the SEC’s review division announced its review priorities for the fiscal year ending in 2026, but did not mention cryptocurrencies or digital assets.

“This termination is consistent with the priorities of the current SEC administration,” Cornerstone said. “Chairman Atkins suggested that the administration’s “top priority” is to “provide a solid regulatory foundation for digital assets through a reasoned, consistent, and principled approach.”

Related: The pace of crypto class action lawsuits will nearly double in 2025

Amid the U.S. government shutdown that ended last week, the SEC operated with limited staffing for 43 days, reducing its enforcement and oversight capabilities. After returning to normal operations, the agency announced its review priorities for 2026 and continued reviewing applications for initial public offerings, exchange-traded funds, and other matters under its jurisdiction.

Waiting for market structure bill in Congress

As of Tuesday, Republican leadership on the Senate Banking Committee expected to pass a comprehensive bill on digital asset market structure by early 2026.

The original timeline was for the bill to be signed into law by the end of the year, but it was delayed by the government shutdown and Senate Democratic opposition to the DeFi provisions.

If passed, the legislation could give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission significant powers to regulate digital assets. Atkins said that under the SEC’s potential powers, enforcement would not be “lax”, including in cases involving cryptocurrencies.

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