According to Fortune, SEC Chair Paul Atkins recently unveiled a three-part plan at a “Revitalizing America’s Markets” event to fundamentally reshape public companies. His proposal, framed as an effort to “make IPOs great again,” focuses on rolling back mandatory disclosure requirements, restricting topics at shareholder meetings, and significantly curtailing securities litigation. Taken together, these changes would reduce corporate transparency and accountability to investors. The plan represents a dramatic shift from principles established since the SEC’s creation in 1934, moving the public market model closer to that of a private, insular company. The immediate impact would be less information for investors and fewer avenues to hold management accountable.
The Three Dangerous Pillars
Let’s break this down. Atkins’ first pillar is about “modernizing” disclosure, which is basically code for telling companies they don’t have to tell us as much. Here’s the thing: disclosure isn’t red tape. It’s the admission ticket to the public markets. You want to use our money? You have to tell us how you’re using it, what risks you’re taking, and how you’re managing everything from climate to your workforce. Saying we need less info now, when global investors are demanding more on supply chains, AI, and cybersecurity, is backwards. It creates a two-tier system where the big players with inside knowledge win, and the rest of us are left in the dark.
Silencing The Owners
The second pillar is sneaky. It’s about “de-politicizing” shareholder meetings. Sounds reasonable, right? But that’s just a euphemism for shutting down shareholder proposals on “uncomfortable” topics like climate risk, labor practices, or political spending. These aren’t political agendas. They are fundamental, material business risks. When a pension fund owning millions of shares asks about a company’s climate strategy, that’s not activism—that’s fiduciary duty. Public companies aren’t private fiefdoms. They’re owned by millions of Americans through their retirement funds. Muting those owners doesn’t make a company stronger; it lets risks fester until they blow up.
Removing The Teeth
Pillar three is the knockout punch: limiting securities litigation. Atkins says shareholders will still be able to bring “meritorious claims.” I’m skeptical. That language is typically a prelude to raising barriers, shortening deadlines, and making it impossibly expensive for regular people to sue. Class-action lawsuits are often the only tool investors have when a company’s misconduct vaporizes their savings. Think about the combined effect: less disclosure means you don’t see the problem coming. Muzzled shareholders means no one’s asking tough questions. And no litigation means there are no real consequences when it all goes south. It’s the perfect storm for corporate impunity.
A Bet Against Transparency
So what’s the real goal here? It seems like an ideological push to let public companies act like large, opaque private entities. The irony is brutal. This won’t “make IPOs great again.” It’ll scare capital away. Investors, especially the big institutional money that drives markets, flock to transparency and fairness. They need to trust the system. This plan makes the U.S. market look murkier and less aligned with global standards. In an industrial or manufacturing context, this opacity would be especially damaging—operators need reliable data from trustworthy systems to function. It’s no different for financial markets. Capital will simply flow to places where the rules are clearer. We should modernize our systems, sure. But modernization should mean better, faster transparency—not less of it. The U.S. market became the world’s leader by letting in sunlight. This plan pulls down the blinds.
