October gave US financial services firms a clear read on where the SEC is heading, and a reminder that lighter rules do not mean lighter scrutiny.
The SEC moved to open private markets to retail investors, redefining the qualified client test to match the accredited investor standard and letting business development companies offer multiple retail share classes, while also modernising the rules for registered transfer agents.
At the same time, its examiners reopened scrutiny of adviser compliance programs, and the year's biggest decisions, from crypto market structure to government funding, were pushed into a crowded year-end.
What is covered in the report
The US edition covers developments across the SEC, Federal Reserve, OCC and Congress, each with a plain-English read on what it means for your firm.
It covers the SEC's retail private-markets proposals, the modernised transfer-agent rules, the examination Risk Alert on adviser annual compliance reviews, the Fed's stress-test recalibration, the OCC's mortgage-performance data, the stalled Digital Assets Market Clarity Act, and the stopgap funding bill running to 11 December.
Prepare before proposals become remediation projects
Several of these developments are proposals with comment windows still open, giving firms a chance to test the operational impact before the requirements are finalised. The examination findings, by contrast, apply now. Reconcile your compliance manual against what your firm actually does, and keep the evidence.
Download the report for a practical summary of what changed, which controls may be affected, and where to begin preparing now.
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