The Securities and Exchange Commission published a draft strategic plan for the agency for the next five years, including priorities such as regulating digital assets and streamlining compliance requirements for bond and stock issuers.
In a preface to the plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030, published June 2, SEC Chair Paul Atkins wrote that his agency plans to “balance costs and benefits in its regulations” so they are not “unduly burdensome.” Atkins listed the agency’s three main priorities as encouraging capital formation, protecting investors and increasing market efficiencies.
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The commission’s last strategic plan covered 2022 through 2026 and listed protecting investors as its top priority. Historically, the SEC has focused on a three-part mandate of protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets; and facilitating capital formation, which aligns with the priorities in the proposed plan.
The first section of the new document called for “clarifying the boundaries of securities law” for digital assets, stating that “legal certainty” is needed for investors working with tokenized assets and cryptocurrency asset technologies. In particular, the SEC stated that it aims to clarify how it will share jurisdiction over digital assets with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates commodities.
Last month, the Senate Committee on Banking passed a draft bill that would classify “network tokens” as commodities, rather than securities, and would allow companies to raise capital through token sales, with streamlined SEC oversight.
The proposed plan also outlined an SEC review of legacy rules, including rules on alternative trading systems and market structure, to see if they “reflect current market realities,” according to the document. The agency also intends to reform regulations on early-stage fundraising, disclosure requirements and shelf registration processes and to expand Regulation A offerings—“mini-IPOs.” The agency stated that those regulatory changes will encourage business and job growth and help investors “operate with confidence.”
The strategic plan also stated that the SEC will conduct “retrospective reviews” of regulatory policies and administrative procedures. The plan specifically mentioned quarterly corporate and private fund reporting as an example, pursuing Atkins’ long-stated goal of reducing disclosures.
The SEC’s proposed plan made clear it interprets the agency’s enforcement priorities as shifting back to “Congress’ original intent,” measuring successful enforcement by its deterrent effect and clear guidance, rather than “the number of cases or fines.” It echoed Atkins’ previous defense of the SEC’s shift of enforcement priorities following the sudden resignation in March of its Enforcement Division director and a Harvard study that found the SEC’s 2025 level of enforcement was the lowest in a decade.
The strategic plan also called for a “comprehensive review” of the security and functionality of its existing technology infrastructure, including its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system—EDGAR—which contains 19 terabytes of information disclosed to the commission since its launch as a pilot program in 1984. The agency will also encourage collaboration across agency divisions, according to the plan.
The SEC is accepting public comments on the plan through its website, email or regular mail until July 2.
