Ticker: Trump names crypto booster to run SEC; GM to take $5B charge on China losses

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.”

In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation.

“He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry.

GM to take $5B charge on China losses

The poor performance of General Motors’ Chinese joint ventures is forcing the company to write down assets and take a restructuring charge totaling more than $5 billion in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Detroit automaker said in a  filing Wednesday that it will cut the value of its equity stake in the ventures by $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion when it reports its results early next year. In addition, GM will take $2.7 billion worth of restructuring charges, most of it during the fourth quarter.

The noncash charges will reduce the company’s net income, but they will not affect adjusted pretax earnings, GM said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.