“Whenever I talk to companies that are headquartered outside of the United States, one of the greatest fears that their officers and directors have is about how litigious the environment is in the US and the fear of going public with stock drop suits post-IPO,” said Anna Pinedo, a partner at Mayer Brown who represents issuers in public offerings.
SEC enforcers under Trump 2.0 have pursued fewer infractions related to big-name companies’ improper registration statements or disclosures compared with Biden-era Chair Gary Gensler, while shifting focus to individual perpetrators accused of offering fraud, insider trading, and Ponzi schemes.
But the threat of shareholder class litigation remains a major factor in public companies’ calculus, even as the SEC embraces mandatory arbitration and seeks to eliminate what Atkins says are “compliance requirements that yield no meaningful investor protections.”
High-dollar securities class actions boomed in the first half of 2025, serving as a venue for certain claims that Atkins’ SEC shied away from pursuing.
“Litigation reform in the securities area is certainly an issue that should be top of mind for anyone who is concerned about capital formation,” Pinedo said.
Source: SEC’s ‘Make IPOs Great Again’ Plan Hits Shutdown Stumbling Block