In the News

Donald Trump’s point man on financial regulation probably won’t be joining the incoming administration, at least not initially.

Paul Atkins, widely viewed as a top candidate for a powerful regulatory perch at the Federal Reserve, has told people he intends to stay at his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.

A former member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Atkins has had a key role on Trump’s transition team, helping to recommend regulatory policy and personnel at federal financial regulators.

He was seen as a leading candidate for a top post in the president-elect’s administration, including the Federal Reserve’s point man on banking oversight.

That post is now unlikely to go to Mr. Atkins, these people said, though the situation could change and the Trump administration may tap Mr. Atkins for a post at some point in the future.

The Trump transition team couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Mr. Atkins has told people for months that he was happy at Patomak and wasn’t actively campaigning for a top job, such as the vice chair of supervision at the Fed.

That post was created by Congress in 2010, but it has never been filled. Fed governor Daniel Tarullo, who has been effectively doing the job, has used the role to exert significant influence over the largest U.S. banks. His term as fed governor expires in 2022, though he could step down sooner.

Any nominee to the vice chairman role would need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Other possible candidates for the Fed job, The Wall Street Journal has reported, include: Rep. French Hill (R., Ark.), a former banker; David Nason, chief executive of General Electric Co.’s GE Energy Financial Services and a Treasury Department official in the George W. Bush administration; and John Allison, the former leader of the libertarian Cato Institute think tank and former CEO of regional bank BB&T Corp.

Mr. Trump’s team also is considering whether to appoint two Fed officials at once, people familiar with the matter have said. The vice chair job is open, as is another slot on the Fed’s seven-member governing board, which currently has only five members.

Mr. Atkins founded his behind-the-scenes consulting business Patomak in the garage of his suburban Washington home in 2009 after he stepped down as a Republican member of the SEC.

Since then, he has prepared private-equity firms for compliance exams, devised strategies for mutual funds to resist government curbs on risk-taking and helped Chinese accounting firms avert a ban on doing business in the U.S. Patomak’s other clients have included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Fidelity Investments.