[Photo:  Atkins, YouTube]

Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, Donald Trump’s point man on financial regulation, probably won’t be joining the incoming administration, at least not initially. Atkins had been widely viewed as a leading candidate to be Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve – a position with much clout on banking oversight.

Instead, Atkins plans to stay at his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners., explaining that he was happy at Patomak and wasn’t actively campaigning for a top job. such as the Vice Chair position. 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.

At Patomak, Atkins prepares PE firms for compliance exams, devises strategies for mutual funds to resist government curbs on risk-taking, and helps 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.

The Vice Chair position …..  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-AK), a former banker; David Nason, CEO of GE Energy Financial Services and a Treasury Department official in the George W. Bush administration; and John Allison, former leader of the libertarian Cato Institute think tank and former CEO of BB&T.