The Division of Examinations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued the Fiscal Year 2024 Examination Priorities signaling areas of particular interest for the upcoming audits of investment advisers. Notably, this year’s exam priorities introduces what appears to be a new focus on whether investment adviser firms are obtaining “informed consent” from clients when making material changes to advisory agreements:
The North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) recently released its 2023 Investment Adviser Coordinated Exam findings. The report provides valuable insights and empirical data with respect to the most common deficiencies found during 683 routine examinations of state-registered investment advisers located throughout the U.S. and conducted from January 1 to July 31, 2023.
The Division of Examinations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently issued a Risk Alert dated September 6, 2023, that provides valuable insights into the examination process for investment advisers. This Risk Alert serves as a guide on how the SEC identifies investment advisers for examinations and the documents and information requested. Notably, it includes a separate attachment titled “Typical Initial Information Examiners Request of Investment Advisers” which is a helpful resource for investment advisers to understand what to expect during an SEC examination.
In a recent Risk Alert by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Examination Division identified several common issues among newly registered investment advisers (also referred as RIAs): (1) compliance policies and procedures; (2) disclosures and filings; and (3) marketing. Although these findings are based upon examinations of federally registered investment advisers, it’s our experience that newly state registered firms have similar issues.
On July 26, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that 21 investment advisers agreed to settle charges that they failed to file and deliver their CRS Relationship Summary, also known as Form ADV Part 3, to their retail investors. Click here to read the SEC’s full announcement.
On July 21, 2021, the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released a Risk Alert about its assessment of investment adviser firms associated with wrap fee programs.
The SEC identified multiple areas where the investment advisers examined were deficient in their policies, procedures, and practices related to wrap fee programs, and further noted a range of industry practices that investment advisers might consider adopting to meet their fiduciary duty when recommending and managing wrap fee programs.
RIA Compliance Consultants recently created a new sample form, SEC Exam – Privilege Log.
SEC Risk Alert
The State of New York recently announced a special exam waiver window on the Central Registration Depository (“CRD”) system, which will affect existing investment adviser representatives (“IARs”) seeking registration in New York via an exam waiver (in lieu of taking and passing the Series 65 or Series 66 & 7 examinations). IAR applicants requesting an exam waiver should apply between February 27, 2021 and August 31, 2021 in order to avoid opening an unnecessary exam window on the CRD system and being charged an examination fee. Between Feb. 27, 2021 and August 31, 2021, FINRA will temporarily modify the CRD system for NY only RA registration requests to allow the applicants who qualify for an exam waiver to avoid opening a window.
On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) released its 2020 Examinations Priorities for SEC registered investment advisers. After completing over 3,089 investment adviser examinations in 2019, the SEC outlined several themes for the focus of investment adviser examinations which include the following:
