Paul Atkins, the new chairperson of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), was sworn in last week. Experts say the SEC rules set the agenda for a major change, but Atkins is tough on enforcement. Three former SEC general counsels believe that his enforcement priorities have changed after taking office, but they will not be completely shifted. Melissa Hodgman, a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and a former senior SEC enforcement officer, predicts that the SEC will not be lax in enforcement under Atkins, with fraud (including accounting and disclosure fraud) and insider trading as the focus. Regulators can use social media and AI to efficiently track insider trading, and the enforcement team will pay close attention. Robert Stebbins, former general counsel, said enforcement would return to the focus of Jay Clayton's tenure, focusing on the "mass market" or retail investors, and this time not enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Dan Berkovitz and Megan Barbaro, general counsel under Gary Gensler, both said the SEC would focus more on cases that actually harm investors, reduce corporate fines, reduce enforcement of procedural violations, and focus on fraud. Former chairperson Gary Gensler has been widely criticized for his rule-making agenda, and three former lead lawyers expect Atkins to address cryptocurrency regulatory challenges while expanding private market access and raising the bar for qualified investors.