From our friends at SEC³, a recap of Chairman Atkins’ remarks at SEC Speaks where he laid out his regulatory vision for the SEC.

It was a forward-looking agenda focused on innovation, market access, and regulatory clarity. Drawing from historical examples and past Commission decisions, Atkins emphasized the need for the SEC to enable, not impede, technological and financial innovation.

Read more here.

Chief Compliance Officers face the challenge of running a comprehensive yet efficient compliance program that nimbly adapts to changing regulatory requirements and business practices. To assist you, our friends at SEC³ have put together a three-part series to discuss common compliance program mistakes investment advisers make and how to avoid them.

• Part One covers how to build a relevant and engaging compliance manual
• Part Two focuses on developing clear compliance procedures
• Part Three examines examples of compliance failures and how to remedy them

From our friends at SEC³, their December Regulatory Roundup, where they provide practical advice on the latest regulatory headlines. They start this issue with the SEC’s 2024 enforcement results, which fell somewhat short after its 2023 banner year. They also say goodbye to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who tendered his resignation after Donald J. Trump won his presidential bid. Given the president-elect’s views on government, I expect the next chair to have a less aggressive regulatory agenda. For firms following the ongoing drama in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals about the Corporate Transparency Act, the current answer as of December 26 is that the requirements to report Beneficial Ownership are stayed.  But stay tuned since that answer may change once again. Finally, they have included a few enforcement cases, one on the misappropriation of client funds and two on cherry-picking. Read more here.

From our friends at SEC³ , the August regulatory updates you need to know about:

• More Flack on WhatsApp, Hypothetical Performance SmackDown, A Timely Warning on the Pay-to-Play Rule, and Updates to Qualifying Venture Capital Fund Exemption
• 26 More Firms Slammed with $390 Million in Fines for Failure to Retain Texts and Chats
• Adviser Ordered to Stop Using Hypothetical Performance on Public Website
• Adviser Pays $95,000 Fine for Pay-to-Play Foot Fault in a Timely Reminder this Election Season
• Venture Capital Funds Adjustment for Inflation

Read all about them here.