Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Congressman French Hill (R-AR), the Chairman of the Committee, urging him to hold a hearing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman, Paul S. Atkins.

In the letter, Ranking Member Waters underscored the importance of fulfilling the Committee’s obligation to conduct regular oversight of the SEC—one of the most powerful and consequential agencies within the Committee’s jurisdiction. She noted that since Chairman Atkins assumed his position, no oversight hearing has been held, even as the SEC has taken a series of actions that have significantly altered the agency’s operations and procedures and raised serious concerns about the politicization of its decision-making. Ranking Member Waters highlights that robust oversight is essential to ensure the SEC is enforcing the law as intended to protect investors and promote market efficiency and competition.

“As you know, our Committee has a responsibility to oversee our nation’s securities laws, and to review how the SEC’s implementation of the law affects investor protection, market efficiency and competition. When I served as Chairwoman, Chair Gensler testified before the Committee twice during his first year,” wrote Ranking Member Waters. “Despite having a clear obligation to oversee the SEC, the Committee has not held a single hearing with Chairman Atkins, despite the agency’s rapid, significant, and questionable policy shifts during the Trump Administration, largely accomplished by unilateral action by the Chair.”

In closing, Waters outlined more than fifteen areas requiring congressional scrutiny, including concerns about the politicization of the SEC’s regulatory actions and inactions and the erosion of the agency’s independence; failures to uphold the SEC’s investor-protection mandate, particularly in response to crypto-related misconduct; and a pattern of shadow deregulatory actions and delays that have drawn significant criticism from investors and investor advocates. She emphasized that investors, retirees, and working families deserve transparency and accountability from one of the nation’s most powerful financial regulators.

Read the letter here.

###