SEC to Review Biden-Era Rules Imposed on SPACs

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins said Wednesday (July 2) that the agency will review some of the more recent rules it imposed on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

“There have been new rules adopted by the commission in the last couple of years regarding SPACs,” Atkins said in a Wednesday interview with CNBC. “Those were very, you know, rather controversial, let’s say. So, we’ll be looking at all of those things.”

Atkins said during the interview that SPACs came about because they provide a faster way of going public at a time when the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) has been decreasing.

“Disclosures, very important. Obviously, the structure of it is very important,” Atkins said. “But I think if we pay attention to going public and what are the impediments for people to access the public markets through IPOs and other means like that, I think the other situation will be able to solve itself.”

The SEC increased its oversight of SPACs last year, adding rules requiring more disclosure, cracking down on conflicts of interest and speeding up the deal-making process, Bloomberg said in a Wednesday report on Atkins’ remarks.

The agency said in a January 2024 press release that its new rules and amendments were meant to enhance investor protection in SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions, because of the complexity of these transactions.

Gary Gensler, who was chairman of the SEC at the time, said in the release that the new rules and amendments would address “information asymmetries, misleading information and conflicts of interest.”

“Just because a company uses an alternative method to go public does not mean that its investors are any less deserving of time-tested investor protections,” Gensler said in the January 2024 release. “Today’s adoption will ensure that the rules for SPACs are substantially aligned with those of traditional IPOs, enhancing investor protection through three areas: disclosure, use of projections and issuer obligations.”

It was reported in May that SPACs are making a comeback under the Trump administration. As of May, there had been 44 SPAC offerings raising $9 billion in 2025, compared with 57 companies raising $9.6 billion during the entirety of 2024.