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Oft heralded as the playbook for compliance program's yearly initiatives, the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) agenda can reinforce your compliance team's priorities or completely reinvent them. Luckily, given the scope of the SEC's releases, notes, and regulatory updates over the course of the last six to twelve months, the agenda – and the items therein – should come as no surprise.
As we await the arrival of the 2022 agenda, what compliance teams must focus on is how they will address relevant agenda items, ensuring their firm remains in compliance and removes unnecessary risk on both an organization and employee level.
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It must be noted that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine has shifted focus for many organizations, with sanctions quickly restructuring business and compliance priority. However, much of this focus has revolved around cybersecurity risk, which as it stands, is already an expected SEC agenda item for 2022.
Top 3 2022 SEC agenda predictions
While not a complete list, we've narrowed down our top three predictions for SEC prioritization over the next twelve months.
Insider/Shadow trading: The crux of this priority is a redefinition of an existing regulation. All firms have Insider Trading policies and procedures in place, tracking critical material non-public information (MNPI) data and any associated trading activity. The SEC is looking to expand that scope, moving beyond regulations pertaining solely to the direct subject of the MNPI to include any and all indirect subjects as well.
Cryptocurrency: While cryptocurrency offers an innovative way to invest, the process of regulating such transactions might not be as revolutionary. In fact, many organizations are able to track these investments in a fashion similar to the "typical" security.
Cybersecurity: With the increase in cyberattacks, it should come as no surprise that the SEC plans to prioritize cyber-safety. And in fact, it has already taken steps toward this initiative, releasing a rule proposal earlier this year.
The Implications
No doubt, the SEC's agenda will cover a breadth of priorities and focus areas – the evolving ecosystem of compliance creating an increasingly complex and challenging arena to both regulate and navigate. But at the crux of the agenda items is a core tenet: the need for firms of all sizes to prioritize compliance and enhance their program to meet the developing risk areas.
In many cases, this enhancement requires the integration of a technology partner, enabling compliance teams to automate the mundane, manual processes that so often eat up hours of time and provide fertile ground for oversights. By streamlining these seemingly small, but time-consuming tasks, teams can focus their energy on the bigger picture of compliance – driving new enhancements in their program and creating additional strategic value for the firm at large.
The SEC's agenda can provide a roadmap for compliance program enhancements, but it is certainly not the end-all-be-all. Success within the compliance world is defined by your ability to anticipate the unexpected, adapting to new circumstances that could negatively impact your firm's ability to serve customers and their interests. Building a comprehensive program enables your compliance team to proactively mitigate the risk facing your firm.
Sunil Bheda is Chief Technology Officer, ComplySci
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