Exam sweeps implied in SEC’s new priorities list (IGNITES)

Woven within the SEC’s 2026 examination priorities are that the regulator’s approach to conducting exams will be par for course. Firms thinking the SEC’s process for conducting exams will be any less intensive or that there will be fewer exams than in previous years are probably off the mark. Focus areas mostly follow those outlined in last year’s priorities, and the way the SEC will conduct its upcoming exams will likely follow suit. FrontLine’s Founder and President Amy Lynch sees impending exam sweeps alluded to in the SEC’s priorities. She cites as an example the new requirements for reporting cyberattacks under Reg S-P, with the SEC likely to use sweep exams to determine if firms have implemented the necessary updates and are in compliance with the rule. Additionally, the SEC’s new exam request lists should contain many of the same items found in its historical routine exams. However, an area of greater emphasis will be retail investor protection, with the SEC stating that it deems investment advisers’ fiduciary duties with regard to products for retail investors as especially critical. See IGNITES (subscription required), “SEC Spotlights Alts and Retail Risks in Exam Priorities”