The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its examination priorities for fiscal year 2025, focusing on seven key priorities to protect investors and ensure compliance within the securities industry. The summary below highlights these priorities for 2025. The full report is available on the SEC website or within this document, found here.
Top SEC Priorities
- Investment Advisers: Ensuring advisers adhere to fiduciary standards, effectively manage compliance programs and provide transparent disclosures and conflict of interests to its investors.
The SEC is expected to focus on an adviser compliance program, which includes custody and disclosure filings. Working with legal counsel to determine compliance is an essential first step for advisers to ensure compliance with applicable regulations. For private funds, continued emphasis will be on the accuracy of allocations and fees/expenses of the private fund, which includes management fees and shared expenses amongst affiliates. You can help ensure your fund adheres to its agreement with its investors by reviewing the Partnership Agreement and discussing it with your accountant. - Investment Companies: Monitoring mutual funds and exchange-traded funds for compliance, especially regarding fees, governance and market volatility. The SEC is expected to focus on fund fees, expenses, waivers and related disclosures.
- Broker-Dealers: Assessing compliance with Regulation Best Interest and broker-dealer financial responsibility rules and examining trading practices and services. The SEC specifically indicated that it plans to focus on investments deemed to be of higher risk, including highly leveraged products, crypto assets, alternative investments and products with complex fee structures.
- Self-Regulatory Organizations: Evaluating the performance of national securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in enforcing compliance.
- Clearing Agencies: Conducting annual risk-based examinations to ensure these agencies manage financial and operational risks effectively. As required under the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC is required to examine, at least once annually, each clearing agency designated as systemically important and for which the SEC serves as the supervisory agency.
- Other Market Participants: Reviewing compliance of municipal advisors, transfer agents and security-based swap dealers with SEC regulations.
- Risk Areas: Focusing on cybersecurity, emerging financial technologies, crypto assets and anti-money laundering (AML) practices to safeguard investor information and maintain market integrity.
Investment Advisers should familiarize themselves with the FinCEN AML regulations released in 2024.
How We Can Help
As regulatory oversight intensifies, it has never been more critical to ensure your organization’s compliance posture is up to date. Our CBIZ team guides investment advisers, private funds and other market participants through these evolving requirements. From reviewing partnership agreements and fee structures to assessing compliance programs and disclosures, our SEC professionals have the expertise to help you stay on course.
Connect with us today to learn how we can partner with you to navigate the SEC’s 2025 examination priorities and maintain investor confidence in a rapidly changing regulatory landscape.
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