SEC’s Atkins Eyes January Roll-Out for New Capital Markets Rules

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said the agency will roll out a series of proposals beginning in January to encourage more firms to go public.

Atkins said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday that he plans to issue new policy proposals to scrape the “barnacles” off SEC regulations “and make our ship sail quickly through the waters” of capital markets. He said that there were about half as many publicly-traded companies as there were three decades ago.

The proposals include curbing what Atkins called “frivolous” shareholder suits, modifying corporate governance requirements and helping smaller companies attract investors.

Atkins ...