Good afternoon and thank you Amy [Lally] [1], for the kind words. I appreciate the opportunity to address the 2025 Institute for Corporate Counsel. [2] Its focus on the intersection of law, business, and politics is particularly timely. As our Chairman Paul Atkins has proclaimed earlier this year, it is a new day at the SEC and there have been changes in perspective on these three factors.

What has not changed, however, is the recognition that law, business, and politics impact our shared efforts to build and maintain strong capital markets. Economic growth, jobs creation, and innovation are powered by free enterprise and opportunity, which are not possible without investors being willing to supply risk capital.

Law underpins the Commission’s authority to protect investors, to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and to facilitate capital formation. Business operates within this legal framework to provide goods and services demanded, and desired, by the public. Lastly, politics responds to the voting electorate and their general views on policies are reflected in the election of the President and members of Congress.

During the next several years, the Commission is expected to focus on crypto, encouraging more companies to go public, and facilitating more opportunities to invest in private markets. Today, I will focus on the second part of that agenda — encouraging more businesses to go, and stay, public by making it less onerous to be a public company.

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