SEC Chair Paul Atkins filed two proposed rulemakings, targeting a public company framework unchanged for more than 20 years, with the stated goal of expanding initial public offering access to more companies and retail investors.
The move marks the first formal step in Atkins’ “Make IPOs Great Again” agenda
Listed U.S. companies have declined roughly 40% since the mid-1990s. Atkins attributes that shift to decades of accumulated regulatory burden. Rising compliance costs have made private capital markets increasingly attractive to growing companies.
Inside the SEC’s Two Proposed Rules The Filer Status Proposal raises the public float threshold for full disclosure requirements from $700 million to $2 billion. That benchmark has not changed since 2005. It also converts the post-IPO on-ramp from a five-year maximum to a five-year minimum.