SEC agenda signals new opportunities for KPMG in markets, crypto

In a July 7 statement, SEC Chair Paul Atkins laid out a 2026 regulatory agenda aimed at clearer crypto rules, disclosure reform and reviving public markets. Those moves will show up first as client questions about controls, reporting calendars and deal execution. For KPMG teams, it is an early workload forecast.

What the SEC is really signaling

Atkins said he has been chair for “just over one year,” and cast the agenda as a push to move faster in a more modern operating environment. He tied that effort to Donald J. Trump’s goal of making the United States the “crypto capital of the world,” while saying the SEC wants to reduce compliance burdens without losing investor protection.

Clearer rules for crypto assets, custody and trading of tokenized securities onchain would change the kind of work clients buy. Companies do not just need a legal readout. They need policies, controls, documentation and audit-ready processes that can survive year-end scrutiny, board questions and regulator review.

The agenda also includes a proposal to better facilitate retail investor participation in private markets with safeguards. That is likely to pull more advisers into conversations about product structure, valuation, disclosures and who can actually sell what to whom.

Where the first client questions will land

The first wave of questions is likely to hit crypto-native firms, broker-dealers, asset managers, public companies with digital-asset exposure and private-market sponsors. They will want to know what clearer capital-raising rules for crypto assets mean for offering documents, custody arrangements, trading venues and internal controls. They will also need help understanding where tokenized securities fit in existing reporting and assurance workflows.

That is where KPMG’s audit, tax and advisory teams can move from commentary to implementation. An issuer launching a tokenized product will need more than a legal memo. It will need controls over asset custody, valuation methodology, revenue recognition questions, disclosures and governance over the data feeding those reports.

The same goes for the private-markets piece of the agenda. If the SEC makes it easier to bring retail investors into private markets, even with safeguards, the pressure will rise on firms that distribute, advise on or administer those products. Early demand will center on accounting, disclosure, valuation and risk.

Public-company reporting is already shifting

On May 5, 2026, the SEC proposed optional semiannual reporting, which would let eligible public companies file Form 10-S twice a year instead of Form 10-Q quarterly. Earnings releases on Form 8-K would still be possible for interim updates, but the proposal would still change the rhythm of close, review and governance.

A move away from quarterly filings, even if only for some issuers, would force companies to revisit reporting calendars, control design, committee schedules and the way they manage earnings guidance. The change would also test how companies maintain discipline and comparability when the reporting cadence changes.

The clients most likely to ask first are those already stretched by disclosure complexity, compensation reporting, or fast-moving transaction activity. They need a playbook for how much work can be simplified, which controls stay in place, and which processes have to become more intentional if quarterly reporting pressure eases.

The capital-markets backdrop is getting busier

The push comes as IPO activity rebounds. The SEC’s statistics page shows 374 IPOs in 2025 raising more than $70 billion, up from 246 IPOs and $39 billion in 2024. In the first quarter of 2026, the agency counted 99 IPOs raising more than $22 billion, versus 84 IPOs and $11.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025.

That rebound sits against a much longer decline in the public-company universe. SEC reporting-issuer data show the total number of reporting issuers fell from 9,656 in 2004 to 7,902 in 2024. U.S.-domiciled exchange-listed companies dropped from 4,461 to 3,929 over the same period.

A smaller public-company base puts more weight on each new issuer, revived listing and streamlined offering process for firms with transaction, assurance and internal-control expertise. KPMG teams that work in IPO readiness, registration statements and post-offering reporting may see a wider pipeline if the SEC keeps leaning toward revival rather than restraint.

Why KPMG’s own read matters here

KPMG’s April 2026 SEC Speaks alert pointed to a robust rulemaking pipeline in the Custody Rule, disclosure requirements and a crypto asset framework. It also flagged SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission harmonization as a path toward long-awaited jurisdictional clarity on crypto assets. That clarity would shift the work from interpretation to implementation.

KPMG groups the agenda under A-C-T: Advance, Clarify, Transform. In practice, that means turning policy into rules and redesigning market behavior, not just making technical updates. For KPMG employees, the strongest teams will be the ones that can connect regulatory agenda items to concrete deliverables: control frameworks, disclosure calendars, tokenized-asset reporting, offering structures and governance changes.

What teams need to build now

The near-term skill stack is not mysterious, but it is more cross-disciplinary than before. Audit professionals need enough crypto and market-structure fluency to test controls and challenge management assumptions. Tax specialists need to understand how tokenized assets, fundraising structures and private-market access could affect client planning. Advisory teams need to be ready to map rule changes into operating models, especially where disclosure reform intersects with executive compensation, registered offerings and semiannual reporting.