NASAA: Statement on SEC Investment Adviser Exam Funding

North American Securities Administrators Association President, Andrea Seidt, has issued a statement on the SEC Adviser Exam Funding.  Seidt states:

NASAA shares the concerns of the [Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee] and SEC Chair Mary Jo White that existing SEC resources are inadequate to detect or credibly deter frauds that might occur in federally-registered investment advisers. To hear the SEC Chair say, five years after the financial meltdown, that approximately 40 percent of SEC-registered investment advisers (who collectively manage $50 trillion) still have not received their first SEC examination should be a wake-up call to everyone. . . .

By authorizing the SEC to use revenue derived from the self-funding of examinations to augment [Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations's] exam program, the legislation recommended by the IAC would permit the SEC to establish and maintain a robust adviser examination program that periodically adjusts to correspond to changes in its examination responsibilities. It would appear to create a viable, long-term solution to a problem that has plagued the SEC for decades.