SEC EXAMINATIONS TO LOOK OUT FOR
I thought I would get back into the saddle and write this week’s blog. Seems Tony and Bob are knee deep in reviewing tax returns, literally. I walked by and for an office that is supposed to be paperless there were returns piled on their desks so high that no one could tell whether they were actually sitting that their desks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently posted to its website its 2013 Examination Priorities. Carlo CV di Florio, Director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examination, stated, “We are publishing these priorities to promote compliance and communicate with investors and our registrants about areas that we perceive to have heightened risk.”
The release goes on to list issues that the SEC will focus on:
- For investment advisers and investment companies: Presence exams for newly registered private fund advisers, and payments by advisers and funds to entities that distribute mutual funds.
- For broker-dealers: Sales practices and fraud, and compliance with the new market access rule
- For market oversight: Risk-based examinations of securities exchanges and FINRA, and order-type assessment
- For clearing and settlement: For transfer agent exams, timely turnaround of items and transfers, accurate recordkeeping, and safeguarding of assets. For clearing agencies designated as systemically important, conduct annual examinations as required by Dodd-Frank Act.
In reading the list, I couldn’t help but laugh. Why is the SEC publishing this priority list? This seems like a road map for those looking to perpetrate a fraud; make sure these areas are in order and commit the fraud elsewhere.
Seems more like a publicity stunt to tell the public the SEC is on the lookout to protect your money. The bottom line is that if someone wants to commit fraud, they will, and it will be near impossible to find it.
Just sayin’.
Here is the full release if you want to see where the SEC will be looking. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-26.htm
– Frank
