Division of Examination 2021 Examination Priorities

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations has published its 2021 examination priorities. The big headline is a greater focus on climate-related risks as part of information security and operational resiliency. “Building on the efforts noted above concerning our business continuity plan outreach related to the pandemic, the Division will shift its focus to … Read more »

New Risk Alert for Private Funds Probably Portends Coming Exams

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a new Risk Alert: Observations from Examinations of Investment Advisers Managing Private Funds. OCIE highlights three areas of noncompliance in the Risk Alert: conflicts of interest, fees and expenses, and misuse of material nonpublic information.   OCIE lays out some of the conflicts that are particular to … Read more »

OCIE’s 2020 Examination Priorities

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations announced its 2020 examination priorities. OCIE has been publishing its examination priorities annually in an effort to enhance the transparency of its examination program and to provide insights into its approach to examination. With its current risk-based approach, the exam priorities highlight areas that OCIE … Read more »

The Supervision Initiative

In 2017, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination conducted exams of investment advisers that previously employed, or then currently employed, any individual with a history of disciplinary events. According to a just released Risk Alert, this was the Supervision Initiative. The initiative examined over 50 advisers, with a total of $50 billion in … Read more »

Exam Initiatives Focused on Registered Investment Companies

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has issued a risk alert announcing its intention to conduct a series of examination initiatives focused on issues affecting certain registered investment companies and investment advisers. According to the Risk Alert, examiners have six initiatives: Index funds that track custom-built indexes Smaller ETFs and/or ETFs with little secondary … Read more »