In Regulatory Wrap for the week to November 21, Kathryn Fallah reviews the focus areas highlighted in the SEC’s 2026 Examination Priorities.
In this week’s Regulatory Wrap, we unpack the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) concentrations for the coming year, which include the effectiveness of firms’ compliance programs, risks from emerging technologies, and third-party relationships – though, conspicuously, crypto has not made the list.
1. The SEC’s Division of Examinations announced that one of its focus areas for 2026 will include examining the effectiveness of firms’ compliance programs, including reviewing policies and whether they’re enforced
2. The Division will be paying particular attention to advisers that haven’t been examined before or that have recently registered as well
3. The Priorities also flagged major risk areas, which include operational resilience, cybersecurity incidents, emerging risks associated with AI and evolving tech, and the soundness of AML programs
4. SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that “examinations are an important component to accomplishing the agency’s mission – but should not be a ‘gotcha’ exercise”, and should instead allow firms to “prepare to have a constructive dialogue”
5. Interestingly, there was no mention of crypto firms or exchanges, despite a growing spotlight on digital asset regulation from the SEC throughout 2025
This week’s Regulatory Wrap is brought to you by Global Relay’s Content Writer, Kathryn Fallah.
With compliance programs and evolving technology-related risk high on the SEC’s priority list for 2026, firms should take all measures to ensure they have secure and future-proof solutions in place to maintain regulatory expectations.
