Trump's SEC pick likely to give Wall Street easier enforcement ride

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By Caitlin Tremblay

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President-elect Donald Trump's SEC pick Paul Atkins voted several times against punishing big companies and was extremely critical of the agency's enforcement process when he was a top official there, according to public records and former SEC attorneys, in a possible glimpse of what is to come under his leadership. Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice have more on Atkins' previous stint as SEC commissioner.

Strong demand across practice areas, higher billing rates and the expansion of non-equity partner tiers helped bolster law firm profits in 2024 according to a new analysis of firm financials by the Thomson Reuters Institute. However, a potential decline in demand coupled with rising expenses and challenges to the traditional billable hour model spurred by AI could chip away at law firm profits. Karen Sloan has more on the study.

How Iran moves sanctioned oil around the world … Trump won't rule out military or economic action as he seeks control of the Panama Canal and Greenland … U.S. opens probe into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over remote driving feature … Meta shelves fact-checking in policy reversal ahead of Trump administration … Washington Post to lay off 4% of staff to cut costs … Earthquake in Tibet kills more than 120, striking near holy Buddhist city … Hong Kong struggles to improve conditions in tiny, crowded homes … And our top photos of the day.

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

@ctrembz

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