Cyber Defense eMagazine July Edition for 2022

The SEC Just Released Its 2022 Priorities - Is Your Firm
Compliant?
By Jason Elmer, CEO at Drawbridge
As the calendar turns on a fresh fiscal year, the SEC Division of Examinations has published its list of
2022 priorities. Since 2013, releasing a list of examination priorities has been an annual tradition for the
Division – a move designed to improve transparency among investors and registrants, flagging areas of
increased risk to ensure firms can do all they can to protect themselves.
And in 2022, there’s a great deal of risk.
The SEC’s 2022 priorities
Some of the SEC’s key priorities this year cover areas such as private funds, Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) Investing, standards of conduct, and emerging technologies such as crypto-assets.
For cybersecurity teams, it’s the SEC’s focus on information security and operational resiliency that
demands immediate attention.
This year, the SEC Division of Examinations will be particularly focusing on broker-dealers’, RIAs’, and
other registrants’ measures to prevent interruptions to mission-critical services, as well as protecting
investor information, records and assets.
The Division states it will also continue to review whether firms have taken ‘appropriate measures’ to
safeguard customer accounts and prevent account intrusions by ensuring the correct steps are in place
to verify an investor’s identity. It will also examine whether firms are overseeing vendors and service
providers, addressing malicious email activities, identifying red flags related to identity theft, and
managing operational risk for those working from home. As such, the Division will be paying particular
attention to compliance with Regulations S-P and S-ID, where applicable.
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