SEC's Atkins: Private credit is not a systemic risk as of now

[SEC Chair Paul Atkins Testifies To Senate Banking Committee]
Win McNamee/Getty Images News

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said private credit is not a systemic risk "at least as of now."

Atkins said he has seen the good, bad and ugly while being an active investor in the private markets for years. "But you have to be willing to take a loss. These are dynamic markets," he noted during a fireside chat at the IMF spring meetings in Washington.

"If you cannot take the heat, get out of the kitchen," Atkins said. "It is taking a risk. The risk should be fully disclosed."

The SEC chair pointed out that the economy would not be where it is now without private markets stepping in, "taking risks in a long leveraged way."

"Just like anything else with Wall Street or whatnot, when a good thing gets going, money piles in, quality starts to go down because there's too much money chasing fewer good deals," Atkins added. "That is when you have to watch out. As long as the banks are not overextended in this area."

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