What Are They Looking For? The SEC’s Top Priorities For Advisory Firms

Investment adviser lawyer NYCIt is clear that investment advisers are facing increased scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission. But what exactly are they looking for?

Speaking at a recent conference, Director of the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, Carlo di Florio, offered some interesting insight into the SEC’s top priority areas with regard to investment advisers. They include the following:

  • Fiduciary responsibility in the retail sale of complex structured products;
  • Due diligence practices; and
  • Custody arrangements that may signal fraud.

Speaking to chief compliance officers at the Investment Adviser Association’s recent conference, di Florio also stated that the OCIE has hired 130 new examiners over the past year. Half of them specialize in areas including hedge funds and derivatives.

SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher also addressed the conference attendees and renewed hope that the agency will provide exemptive relief for private fund advisors that must now register with the agency. We will discuss this further in our next post, so stay tuned.

How We Can Help Ensure Compliance

Of course, this post provides only a brief overview of the compliance issues facing advisers in the coming months. Therefore, you should consult with experienced counsel.

Eckerle Law offers a highest-quality and cost-effective alternative to the traditional law firm model for a wide variety of transactional and regulatory matters serving all your business law needs. Our experienced attorneys also provide a full range of compliance services for investment advisers, offering compliance tools that are tailored to fit the ever changing regulatory landscape as well as your business needs.

If your company would like to strengthen its business practices, please contact us today so we can leverage our experience to create real-life business and legal solutions to help your business thrive.