The National Exam Program of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published its examination priorities for 2015 this week. (Last week, FINRA published its priorities, discussed here.) Many of the themes are consistent with OCIE’s 2014 priorities and issues identified by the staff over the course of the last year. One notable new theme is OCIE’s recognition that transfer agents are “gatekeepers” that warrant the staff’s attention. OCIE also encouraged would-be whistleblowers to reach out to the staff with information about activities that may “violate the federal securities laws or otherwise [operate] to harm investors.”
OCIE listed three key areas of focus in 2015:
Retail Investors. OCIE continues to raise concerns about retirement investing and the use of traditionally “institutional” products in the retail marketplace, including these examination priorities:
• Financial professionals that register as investment advisers or as dual registrants can offer a variety of fee structures depending upon the types of services or products offered to clients. OCIE will focus on whether advisers are making recommendations based on a client’s best interests or the adviser’s own self-interest. We’ve previously examined this issue (see our client alert regarding scrutiny of “reverse churning”) and it continues to be an area of focus.
Please see full publication below for more information.
