With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently releasing its Examination Priorities for 2025, firms across the financial industry are gaining insights into the areas of focus that will shape their compliance programmes in the year ahead. The SEC’s priorities are an essential guide for compliance officers, helping them to align their policies and procedures with regulatory expectations and anticipate the evidence required to demonstrate a robust compliance framework.
For organisations using Stand On The Right’s compliance management solutions, these priorities all reinforce the value of effective, integrated compliance tools that can adapt to evolving regulatory demands.
This blog will outline the SEC’s main areas of focus for 2025 and what these priorities mean for compliance leaders aiming to stay ahead of the curve.
Key focus areas in the 2025 SEC Examination Priorities
The SEC’s 2025 Examination Priorities reflect its commitment to safeguarding investors, maintaining fair markets, and identifying emerging risks. The Division of Examinations has outlined specific areas of focus to guide their oversight of various market participants. Understanding these can help firms enhance their compliance frameworks and proactively address risk areas before examinations occur.
1. Investment advisers and private funds
The SEC continues to emphasise fiduciary responsibilities, ensuring that investment advisers act in the best interest of their clients. Examiners will be closely evaluating the suitability of investment advice, disclosures of conflicts of interest, and the accuracy of information presented to clients. For private funds, there is a heightened focus on whether advisers’ practices align with disclosures, particularly in areas related to fees, expenses, and risk management.
Organisations that support investment advisers should prepare to demonstrate comprehensive record-keeping and evidence of conflict management processes. With Stand On The Right, compliance leaders can efficiently track and document all required disclosures and monitor advisory practices to ensure consistency with stated policies.
2. Broker-dealers and regulation best interest
Broker-dealers face intensified scrutiny regarding compliance with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) and the use of Form CRS. The SEC aims to ensure that brokers’ practices align with their duty to act in the best interests of clients, with a strong emphasis on conflict disclosures, compensation practices, and supervision of trading-related services.
Additionally, broker-dealers’ operational resilience is under the microscope, especially in relation to oversight of third-party vendors and service providers. Firms should expect examiners to assess the strength of their contingency planning and vendor oversight programmes. Compliance teams can leverage Stand On The Right’s centralised platform to streamline these reviews, making it easier to provide evidence of compliance in these high-stakes areas.
3. Registered Investment Companies (RICs)
For registered investment companies, compliance with investor protections, fee transparency, and governance practices will be a top priority in 2025. Examiners are expected to review compliance frameworks, portfolio management practices, and risk disclosures to protect retail investors.
This focus means that RICs must have clear, actionable documentation of oversight procedures, especially when dealing with affiliated third-party providers. With Stand On The Right’s automated monitoring and reporting capabilities, compliance officers can quickly adapt to these requirements, ensuring all disclosures and risk management practices align with SEC standards.
4. Emerging financial technologies
As fintech innovations reshape the financial services landscape, the SEC is monitoring the deployment of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), algorithmic trading, and digital investment services. The agency will examine whether these technologies are aligned with regulatory expectations, particularly in terms of fairness, suitability, and investor protection.
Organisations using AI-driven tools must ensure transparency, especially when it comes to how these systems are integrated into their advisory and trading services. Stand On The Right’s software can help firms manage AI-based processes, documenting algorithmic decision-making in a way that aligns with SEC guidelines.
5. Crypto assets and digital securities
The SEC will continue to scrutinise firms offering crypto assets or digital securities, assessing whether their compliance programmes address the unique risks associated with these products. Firms are expected to implement robust risk management frameworks, ensuring that customer disclosures accurately reflect the nature and risks of crypto products.
Stand On The Right offers a robust platform for firms to document their risk assessments and review practices, enabling them to stay responsive to the evolving regulatory expectations around crypto assets.
Core risk areas for market participants
The SEC’s 2025 priorities identify several critical risk areas that impact compliance across different market participants:
- Information security and operational resilience: Protecting investor data remains a top priority. Firms are expected to maintain stringent cybersecurity protocols and demonstrate resilience in the face of potential threats. The SEC will evaluate compliance with Regulations S-ID and S-P, as well as firms’ approaches to protecting data in an increasingly digital environment.
- Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (SCI): Firms must prove the reliability, security, and availability of their technology systems. The SEC expects well-documented incident response plans and oversight of third-party providers, ensuring firms can mitigate disruptions and maintain system integrity.
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML): The SEC’s priorities include reviewing broker-dealer and registered investment companies’ AML programmes. Firms must maintain tailored risk-based AML programmes, conduct independent testing, and adhere to customer identification protocols. Meeting AML requirements necessitates reliable and verifiable procedures, particularly when it comes to reporting suspicious activity and complying with OFAC sanctions.
Technology’s expanding role in compliance
The SEC’s 2025 priorities underscore the importance of using advanced technology to support compliance. The agency expects firms to leverage tech solutions to manage the complexities of modern compliance, ensuring that they can efficiently gather, analyse, and present compliance data.
For compliance leaders, this focus on technology highlights the value of investing in adaptable, efficient solutions like Stand On The Right. Our platform allows firms to streamline compliance activities, manage risks in real time, and maintain the evidence needed to meet regulatory standard – without overwhelming their resources.
Is your compliance programme ready for 2025?
The SEC’s 2025 Examination Priorities remind us that a proactive, technology-driven approach is essential for staying compliant in an ever-evolving regulatory landscape. As regulatory expectations continue to increase, firms must be ready to evidence their compliance activities, especially in high-focus areas like information security, financial technologies, and fiduciary responsibilities.
Stand On The Right provides the tools and insights you need to build a resilient compliance framework that aligns with the SEC’s evolving standards. Want to learn more? Contact us today for a demo and see how our platform can empower your compliance programme for 2025 and beyond.