Members of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) continue to share their views about the Commission’s current priorities, and Monday was Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda’s turn.  Speaking at the Florida Bar’s 41st Annual Federal Securities Institute and M&A Conference on February 24, 2025, Acting Chairman Uyeda provided his thoughts on where the Commission should go.

After highlighting that the Commission “has begun the process of returning to its narrow mission to facilitate capital formation, while protecting investors and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets,” Acting Chairman Uyeda discussed the steps that the Commission has taken in that direction, including establishing a crypto task force to help create a regulatory framework for crypto assets (learn more here) and delaying litigation regarding the recently-adopted climate disclosure rules (see here for more) (Acting Chairman Uyeda has been vocal in his disapproval of these rules). 

Acting Chairman Uyeda then turned to his priorities for the Commission’s next steps, as follows:

  • Explore straightforward, cost-effective ways that small businesses and start-up companies can access capital, whether through changes to the exempt offering regime (including Regulation CF) or through legislative action.
  • Improve retail investors’ ability to invest in private companies, such as through changes to the accredited investor definition, in a manner that would allow investors to weigh risks and benefits of a given investment without “paternalistic policies.”
  • Encourage initial public offerings by potentially broadening the definition of emerging growth companies, or EGCs, and considering modifications to new disclosure requirements, such as the Commission’s cybersecurity disclosure rules, to create an “on-ramp” to facilitate compliance for newer public companies.
  • Consider modifications to the Commission’s filer categories and disclosure rules based on a company’s size and resources to avoid disproportionately burdening smaller companies.

Acting Chairman Uyeda’s focus on encouraging capital raising and business innovation and facilitating investment by all is a departure from the emphasis on disclosure obligations and investor protections that marked the most recently prior Commission.  It will be interesting to watch and see what comes of these priorities once the new administration settles in and the Commission begins to consider new rulemaking initiatives.

Read Acting Chairman Uyeda’s remarks here.