Statement Summary
The Spring 2025 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was released today by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, signaling a new focus at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agenda emphasizes innovation, capital formation, market efficiency, and investor protection, particularly regarding the regulatory framework for crypto assets.
Key Priorities
- Establishing clear rules for crypto issuance and trading while deterring illicit activities.
- Potential deregulatory measures aimed at easing compliance and enhancing capital raising processes for private businesses.
- Proposed amendments to existing rules to reduce disclosure burdens.
- Seeking public feedback on the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) due to concerns over increased costs and data risks.
- Removal of several items from the previous administration to align regulations with modern needs.
Original Statement
Today, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This regulatory agenda reflects that it is a new day at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The items on the agenda represent the Commission’s renewed focus on supporting innovation, capital formation, market efficiency, and investor protection.
The agenda covers potential rule proposals related to the offer and sale of crypto assets to help clarify the regulatory framework for crypto assets and provide greater certainty to the market. A key priority of my Chairmanship is clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law.
It also covers a number of envisioned deregulatory rule proposals to reduce compliance burdens and facilitate capital formation, including by simplifying pathways for raising capital and investor access to private businesses. It discusses amending existing rules to improve and modernize them as well as address disclosure burdens.
In addition, it considers recommending that the Commission invite public comment regarding rethinking the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), especially in the wake of a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Market participants and Congress have rightly pushed back on CAT’s seemingly endless cost increases and the risks of storing so much sensitive data together.
Importantly, the agenda reflects our withdrawal of a host of items from the last Administration that do not align with the goal that regulation should be smart, effective, and appropriately tailored within the confines of our statutory authority.
