SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins on Monday opened a public comment process on IPO reforms, saying the agency wants to modernize communications rules and revisit how companies go public through direct listings.
Speaking at the Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Atkins described the push as part of his broader agenda to “Make IPOs Great Again.” He said the number of U.S.-listed companies has fallen roughly 40% since the mid-1990s and that firms now tend to stay private until their Series D or E round, compared with Series B or C a generation ago.
Atkins said he had asked staff to prepare recommendations to overhaul the Securities Act’s “gun-jumping” rules on IPO communications, which he called difficult to navigate and last reformed more than 20 years ago. He also raised whether Securities Act registration still offers meaningful investor protection in direct listings following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Slack v. Pirani.
The Commission will accept written comments through July 27.
The speech follows several SEC proposals under Atkins, including semiannual reporting, registered offering reform that would expand shelf registration eligibility by 60%, and filer-status changes that would extend scaled disclosure accommodations to roughly 81% of public companies.
