SEC Implements Shutdown Plan, Will Pare Down to 393 Employees

SEC Operational Status

Due to a lapse in appropriations, the SEC is currently operating in accordance with the agency’s plan for operating during a shutdown. Effective Wednesday, October, 1, 2025 and until further notice, the agency will have a very limited number of staff members available. The SEC has staff available to respond to emergency situations with a focus on the market integrity and investor protection components of our mission. Our plan calls for the continuing operation of certain Commission systems, including EDGAR. We plan to post any changes in operational status on this page. Additional information is available from the Division of Corporation Finance, the Division of Trading and Markets, the Division of Examinations, and the Division of Investment Management and from a joint statement from the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Investment Management.

US IPOs Face SEC Approval Deadline Ahead of Government Shutdown

The looming shutdown of the US government is threatening to interrupt the recent IPO revival, with companies facing a tight deadline to secure approval as the market regulator prepares to halt most of its activities.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees equity capital markets deals including initial public offerings and underwritten share offerings, issued guidance Monday indicating that most agency functions would cease if Congress is unable to reach a deal to fund the federal government past its deadline.

Edgar, the SEC’s corporate filing system, will be fully functional, but only about 400 of the Wall Street regulator’s more than 4,000 employees would be on the job, according to the shutdown plan. The skeleton crew will focus on market oversight and fraud detection, not scrutinizing paperwork for IPOs, according to the plan. Companies that have completed paperwork with the SEC and whose filings have been declared effective by the regulator as of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Washington would be able to proceed.

The SEC’s Class Act on Class Actions

The SEC recently said it won’t derail initial public offerings if a company’s bylaws or charter bar shareholders from bringing lawsuits in federal court. Neither federal law nor SEC rules expressly prohibit shareholder binding arbitration, but the agency in the past has threatened to derail IPOs on grounds that class action waivers aren’t in the “public interest.” […]

Enter the SEC, which is now correcting its earlier signal. “The Commission is not a merit regulator that decides whether a company’s particular method of resolving disputes with its shareholders is ‘good’ or ‘bad,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said. He added that arbitration provisions are consistent with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act.

Some companies may still choose to allow shareholder lawsuits. Delaware—where many companies are incorporated—recently amended its corporate laws to restrict binding arbitration clauses. But credit to Mr. Atkins for eliminating the plaintiff-attorney veto on IPOs.

White House Pulling Quintenz Nomination for CFTC Chair

Action on Quintenz’s nomination was delayed in July after the Trump administration asked the Senate Agriculture Committee to pause a planned vote. It later emerged that billionaire Tyler Winklevoss, a key Trump backer and co-founder of Gemini Space Station Inc., had asked the White House to delay the confirmation process.

Quintenz took to social media in September to suggest the president “might have been misled” by the Gemini founders. Quintenz posted screenshots of private messages he said he had exchanged with Tyler Winklevoss in late July, before the White House asked the Senate panel to delay the vote.