U.S. Senator Young asks SEC chair to protect U.S. economic, national cecurity from Chinese market manipulation

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins outlining concerns related to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) manipulation of global financial markets and evasion of U.S. financial regulators. In light of these concerns, the letter also encourages the SEC to consider additional steps to protect American markets, shareholders, and our economic and national security. 

In his letter, Senator Young writes, “As you get settled in your new role, I write to express my concern with the continued risk that Chinese companies traded in U.S. exchanges pose to American investors and fiduciaries. I encourage the SEC to explore additional options to protect American economic and national security interests from these companies. Despite their presence on stock exchanges in the United States, these corporations are marked by a chronic—and often intentional—lack of transparency; poor corporate governance or even fraudulent behaviors; and the constant threat of arbitrary or spurious enforcement actions by Chinese regulators. Moreover, the Chinese corporations lack incentives to disclose their business practices because the enforcement measures available to U.S. regulators pale in comparison to the punitive threats posed by Chinese agencies.”

The full text of the Young’s letter can be found here.

American investors, fiduciaries, and publicly-traded firms with operations, supply chains, and business arrangements in both mainland China and Hong Kong often experience a lack of transparency, fraudulent behaviors, and arbitrary threats at the hands of the CCP. Without proper protections in place, malign CCP actions are a risk to American investors and firms as well as our nation’s economic and national security.

Young sent a similar letter to the previous SEC Chair — appointed by President Biden — on June 22, 2023. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration failed to act. At that time, there were 252 Chinese companies listed on major American stock exchanges with a combined market capitalization of $1.03 trillion. According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, as of March 7, 2025, there were 286 Chinese companies listed on either the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Nasdaq, or the NYSE American. The combined market capitalization is now over $1.1 trillion.