U.S. Senators accuse SEC Chairman Paul Atkins of misleading lawmakers during a congressional hearing, questioning a significant decline in enforcement actions.

According to Decrypt, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee) wrote to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, claiming that he may have “deliberately misled” Congress during the February 12 hearing regarding the decline in the number of new enforcement actions by the SEC. The letter pointed out that if there was any significant false statement made to Congress, it could involve criminal liability. The report cited enforcement data disclosed by the SEC, stating that last year the SEC initiated a total of 456 enforcement actions, with about 200 from the previous administration and approximately 256 under the current administration, significantly lower than the average of about 765 per year over the past decade. Warren believes that the sharp decline in enforcement actions, staff reductions, and sudden leadership changes may weaken the SEC’s ability to protect investors and maintain market order, and questioned whether political bias and selective enforcement are involved. The SEC declined to comment on this.