An ambitious rulemaking agenda at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the past year has prompted discussion over whether the cost to comply with so many major policy changes over a short period of time is tenable for smaller public companies.

The agency’s Republican minority does not believe that to be the case. In remarks at a Columbia Law School conference Friday, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda spoke out against overregulation and its impact as a deterrent to companies going public through the traditional initial public offering process.

“As with any business decision, private companies balance the benefits of being a public company … against the costs of being a public company,” Uyeda said. “While the commission does not dictate market conditions, it can encourage capital formation by promulgating rules that are grounded in financial materiality and adequately consider smaller public companies’ ability to pay for the compliance costs.”