With President Joe Biden’s tax-and-spend agenda stalled, his administration is now rushing out a wave of new economic rules and regulations.
The most aggressive regulator is the Securities and Exchange Commission, where Chairman Gary Gensler plans to roll out more than 50 new rules this year. It’s one of the largest regulatory pushes by the SEC in decades. Many of Gensler’s proposals are aimed at implementing Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s failed agenda targeting U.S. financial markets. This includes proposals intended to rewrite the securities rules governing private companies and private markets.
Gensler has already released his first two private markets proposals.
One example is the new 341-page SEC rule proposing new mandates and restrictions on the private funds industry. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is leading the opposition to Gensler’s campaign, rightfully described the proposed new rule as a “sea change” in federal regulations, diverting scarce SEC resources away from protecting retail investors.
The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee is also pushing back: “Rather than easing the excessive burden of being a public company, the SEC is now attempting to inflict similarly excessive regulations on the private markets,” said Sen. Pat Toomey.
Gensler plans to release more private company proposals later this year, including ones that may force private companies to register like a publicly traded company. These proposals would give Warren and her allies more power to bully private companies to adopt the Left’s social policy agenda.
As Republicans advance their oversight responsibilities, the Warren-Gensler assault on the private sector should be at the top of their to-do list.
Bruce Thompson was a Senate aide, assistant secretary of the treasury for legislative affairs, and the director of government relations for Merrill Lynch for 22 years.
