On January 12, 2017, the staff of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its annual announcement on examination priorities in the coming calendar year. The 2017 examination priorities are organized around three thematic areas: (i) examining matters of importance to retail investors; (ii) focusing on risks specific to elderly and retiring investors; and (iii) assessing market-wide risks. As we have reported on previously, OCIE incorporates data analytics into the vast majority of its examination initiatives to identify industry practices and/or registrants that appear to have elevated risk profiles.

Read the full client alert here.