SEC Highlights COVID-Related Risks Facing Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) recently issued a risk alert addressing “Select COVID-19 Compliance Risks and Considerations for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers.” The alert is intended to share OCIE’s observations and recommendations in a number of areas of financial services compliance that, in the staff’s view, require special attention due to the current pandemic: protection of investors’ assets; supervision of personnel; practices relating to fees, expenses, and financial transactions; investment fraud; business continuity; and the protection of investor and other sensitive information.