Top Five Compliance Deficiencies in OCIE Risk Alert Include Annual Compliance Reviews, Accurate Regulatory Filings and Custody Issues

Each year, fund managers attempt to anticipate what new areas the SEC will focus on in its upcoming examinations. In their push to get ahead, however, those managers often fail to adequately perform many of the compliance requirements to which they have been subject for years. The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) recently issued a risk alert (Risk Alert) which, in some respects, urges fund managers to return to the basics as it pertains to their compliance efforts. This is because the five most common compliance issues identified in deficiency letters to investment advisers by OCIE which were described in the Risk Alert include traditional duties such as maintaining proper books and records, conducting annual compliance reviews and making accurate regulatory filings. All investment advisers should review their compliance policies and procedures considering the Risk Alert to ensure they avoid the five deficiencies highlighted by OCIE. This article summarizes the compliance failures and other items covered by the Risk Alert. For a similar 2014 OCIE alert, see “OCIE Director Andrew Bowden Identifies the Top Three Deficiencies Found in Hedge Fund Manager Presence Exams and Outlines OCIE’s Examination Priorities” (Oct. 10, 2014).

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