Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, we will be providing a comprehensive, deep-dive look at SEC Enforcement over the last twelve months—including the real story behind some of the recent numbers, distinct areas of focus, and what we’re hearing from the Paul Atkins-led SEC. To help guide us through this important topic and share some fantastic insights for our listeners, we welcome in two expert panelists (and accomplished podcasters), Andrew Dean from Weil Gotshal and Kurt Wolfe from Quinn Emmanuel.

Show

Interview with Andrew Dean and Kurt Wolfe

• Review of SEC Enforcement metrics over the last twelve months
• What are we hearing from the SEC and Chair Atkins?
• Reviewing the takeaways from Atkins’ recent statements on the Wells process
• What are we hearing from the other Commissioners?
• How have the cuts and departures impacted SEC Enforcement? What typically happens during a transition? Are their programmatic impacts?
• Understanding key differences between the Division of Exams and the Division of Enforcement
• How are SEC exams being resolved in the current environment?
• How are firms interacting with the Staff right now?
• What can we expect next in the area of SEC Enforcement?

Quotes

05:11 – “So, you know, the SEC's fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30, and we don't have the final numbers yet from that period. Our friends at Cornerstone always put out a nice report at the end of the year that kind of, you know, tell the story. It will be a little complicated by the fact that this fiscal year was over the course of two commissions that have relatively different approaches to enforcement. And so the first three and a half months of the fiscal year were under Chair Gensler, and the remaining were under interim chair Uyeda, and then Chair Atkins. You know, it’s clear that the enforcement actions are dramatically lower under the Atkins Commission. If we just look at the period, this is our friends at King and Spaulding putout this, and we’re giving a lot of credit to others who have, kind of, done the math for us. Between February and July of 2025 there were 67 enforcement actions. Compare that to 198enforcement actions during the same time period in 2021 when there was another Commission transition.” – Andrew Dean

20:25 – “They should focus on cases where there's a lot of harm to investors or potential harm to investors and not just technical violations, not foot faults. I think many would say that's a different tone or strategy than what we saw in the last administration. He even went out of his out of his way to say, SEC enforcement should never feel like a gotcha game. My third point would be transparency and predictability. I think, again, this is sort of consistent with what we've heard from Chairman Atkins, you know, back when he was a commissioner even, he thinks enforcement action should be consistent. The results should be fairly predictable and tied to SEC policies and coordinated across the divisions.” – Kurt Wolfe

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, we will be focusing on the impact of mentorship on compliance, and how as mentors and mentees, we can become the best version of our compliance-selves. To help guide us through the conversation, we are very pleased to welcome back to the show, attorney and former regulator (and insightful mentor), Richard Szuch. In our Headlines section, we look a notable decline in SEC enforcement actions in 2025 and review the recently announced rulemaking agenda for the SEC in upcoming months,, and finally, we close up today with another installment of Outtakes, where we see continued focus from SEC Enforcement on the Marketing Rule and accurate disclosure of conflicts of interest.

Show

Headlines

• SEC enforcement actions drop sharply, with focus shifting to investor fraud.
• US SEC unveils agenda to revamp crypto policies, ease Wall Street rules

Interview with Richard Szuch

• How has mentorship shaped your career as a legal and securities compliance professional?
• Reviewing the importance of mentoring and mentorship in compliance
• Understanding the benefits received from mentorship for both the mentee and the mentor
• What were some of the lessons that you received early on as either a mentee or mentor that inspired you in this area?
• What are three questions every compliance professional should ask themselves?
• How does mentorship impact the overall productivity of a compliance team?
• How to find professional fulfillment in your legal/compliance role
• For those that are considering taking on a role as mentor or mentee, what additional advice or words of encouragement would you give them?

Outtakes

• SEC Charges RIA with Marketing, Books and Records, and Compliance Rule Violations

Quotes

16:00 – “Like at the prosecutor’s office. I remember John O’ Reilly saying to me once, ‘Richard, you do not need to be smart enough to know the answer to every question, but you do need tobe smart enough to know when to ask a question.’ And I think the same goes true with navigating with the people you work with.” - Richard Szuch

28:06 – “There is the law, there are the facts, and then there’s the application of judgement to what those facts mean in the legal construct. Same exact thing in compliance. There are the regs. There is the activity, you know, going on, there’s maybe not a bright line answer, and that’s when, you know, having help from older folks or people more experienced than you is really what you’re looking for, or at least as experienced as you.” - Richard Szuch

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! on today’s show, we will be tackling one of the most significant topics being discussed so far in all of 2025, namely cryptoassets and the SEC’s Crypto Task Force. To help guide us through the conversation, we are very pleased to welcome back to the show, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. As the head of the task force, Commissioner Peirce shares her unique perspective regarding specific focus areas, collaboration with the industry, and other notable items from the first of 2025. In our Headlines section, FinCEN recently announced that the compliance date for the AML Rule for investment advisers is being delayed by two years, and finally, we close up today with another installment of History Has Your Back, where the story of a famous stockbroker and humanitarian demonstrates the importance of unsung heroes.

Show

Headlines

• Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that the compliance date for the anti-money-laundering rule for investment advisers is being delayed by two years.

Interview with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce

• Background on the SEC’s Crypto Task Force
• What areas has the Task Force been focused on of late?
• Has there been additional collaboration with the industry?
• How will the area of issuance evolving over the next few years and how can the SEC establish itself as a leader in this space both domestically and internationally?
• Why is the issue of custody so challenging in the crypto space?
• How might self-custody be a safer option for some crypto assets?
• How will the issue of taking self-custody of crypto assets evolve over the next several years?
• Is there an expectation that broker-dealers will go to market with a “super app” that offers trading in securities and non-securities and other financial services all under a single roof?
• Do you think further guidance or rulemaking may be helpful for enabling the listing and trading of crypto assets on national securities exchanges?

History Has Your Back

• Famous stockbroker Nicholas Winton demonstrates the significance and impact of unsung heroes

Quotes

11:35 - “Well, I’m glad that you highlighted Chairman Atkins’ speech because he has taken a position which has just been really refreshing for me to see, which is that this is work that we can do. It’s work that we should be doing and we’re going to do this work. And really setting the tone for wanting to create a welcoming atmosphere for innovation, but also recognizing that there are areas where our existing regulatory framework touches upon crypto and we have to apply it. Now, we do also have a lot of authority from Congress already to use exemptions as necessary to provide relief from regulatory obligations when that makes sense to do that. And so I think with respect to issuance specifically, we do think that a rulemaking would be helpful.” – Hester Peirce

19:13 - “I should say that self-custody, that term can mean different things, right? I think someone with crypto assets—does that advisor need to go to a third party custodian or can that advisor hold those crypto assets itself? One reason may be that there isn’t a third party that’s out there that’...

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, on today’s show, we will be taking a topic known all too well by those in the compliance space, namely maximizing your compliance resources, doing less with more, and getting the most out of what’s available to effectively run your firm’s compliance program to the best of your ability. To help guide us through the conversation, we welcome Louis Dempsey and Bart McDonald from Renaissance Regulatory Services. In our Headlines section, we review a some recent rule withdrawals and some leadership changes at the SEC , and finally, we close up today with another installment of Outtakes, where a recent enforcement action reminds us of the importance of having proper disclosures for fees and conflicts of interest.

Headlines

• SEC Withdraws 14 Rulemaking Proposals
• SEC Chair Atkins Fills Key Leadership Roles

Interview with Louis Dempsey and Bart McDonald

• Background on maximizing your compliance resources
• Discussing best practices to operate on a limited budget
• Evaluating the impact of new regulations, including the FinCEN AML Rule and Regulation S-P
• Analyzing compliance efficiencies in Code of Ethics, electronic communications, conflicts of interest, registration and licensing, compliance testing, and documentation of completed tasks
• Reviewing the significance of a strong training program.
• How does your firm’s registration type impact how you can best maximize compliance resources?

Outtakes

• Recent enforcement action reminds us of the importance of having proper disclosures for fees and conflicts of interest.

Quotes

08:48 – “Really, the risk assessments are incredibly important to help you focus where you want to put your energy and put your time and we'll get into some of that later. From a bigger picture standpoint, you want to leverage your custodians, your custodial relationship. They all have tools that they provide and can help from a compliance perspective, whether those are exception reports, trade reports—and don't forget you also most of them have discounts for other vendors—so whether it's proxy services or really a whole host of items, you want to become familiar with that, you want to stay on top of the reporting capabilities, and...you also have the NSCP. So you really want to look at joining compliance roundtables or other peer networks—that really helps from a practical standpoint.” – Bart McDonald

13:06 – “Think of compliance as a journey, as a road trip. You've got a certain amount of things that you need to get done and you've got 365 days to get them done in. Create a map, create a checklist, create a calendar on what you're going to do and when you're going to do it. Don't wait till the end of the year to do all your testing. Do things throughout the course of the year. If you're a big picture person, no matter how much you know the rules, no matter how much you know the laws, no matter how long you've been in the industry, you still have to have that. And if you're not a detailed organized person and you have the resources, hire somebody t...

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, we will be taking an in-depth look at one of talked compliance items from the first half of the year, the two new recently published FAQs to the SEC Marketing Rule. To help guide us through the conversation, we welcome in Issa Hanna from Eversheds Sutherland and Ted McKutcheon from Securities Law Counsel. In our Headlines section, we review a recent denial from the SEC of an attempt by 16 firms to revise settlements they made with the commission regarding their supervision of employees’ off-channel communications, and finally, we close up today with another installment of What’s On My Mind, where we review a quote from a famous chef and author to help provide us in the compliance space with a little bit of satisfaction and peace of mind at this time of year.

Show

Headlines

• SEC denied an attempt by 16 firms to revise settlements they made with the commission regarding their supervision of employees’ off-channel communications

Interview with Issa Hanna and Ted McKutcheon

• Background regarding SEC Marketing Rule FAQs
• Practical challenges related to performance marketing and demonstrating gross versus net
• What problems did firms face with implementation?
• What solutions do the new Marketing Rule FAQs provide?
• Recap of the new Marketing Rule FAQs
• What specific guidance can firms takeaway from the footnotes to the Marketing Rule FAQs?
• What is the broader impact of the new FAQs related to performance marketing?
• What strategic decisions will firms need to make before utilizing the benefits of the new FAQs?

What’s On My Mind

• Reviewing a quote from Anthony Bourdain and the satisfaction of completing another regulatory filing season.

Quotes

13:21 – “Folks will recall that the Marketing Rule was officially adopted at the very tail end of the Clayton-era SEC…There were lots of issues that were debated from an interpretive perspective under the rule that fit there. And you had this new category of performance that the SEC seemed to have just made up out of thin air called (so-called) extracted performance. And folks were, kind of, struggling to, kind of, figure out how existing practices in the industry, particularly the private fund industry, would fit into that category of performance.” – Issa Hanna

40:53 – “Remember that, sure, we're getting some relief with respect to the net of fees requirement here, and certain circumstances. It doesn't necessarily get you an out from the Marketing Rule altogether. That's a really important thing to remember is that if the extracted performance that you're dealing with is still an offer of your advisory services or an offer of a private fund that you're advising, you know, that's still an advertisement subject to other applicable requirements of the rule, including the general prohibitions of the rule. So, you know, you do have to keep that in mind.” – Issa Hanna

44:45 – “The part of the approach that's deemed okay with respect to the principle of making fair and balanced presentations is this layered disclosure or layered approach to di...

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, we will be reviewing a multitude of regulatory and compliance topics, including artificial intelligence, books and records, types of marketing materials, the SEC Marketing Rule, post-commitment management fees, private fund recycling, and many more fantastic issues in our first ever Compliance Grab Bag! To help guide us through the conversation, we welcome in Christine Schleppergrell from Morgan Lewis and Christopher Mulligan from Weil Gotshal. In our Headlines section, we review the first Advisers Act enforcement action under the new administration and what it tells us about future actions, and we close up today with another installment of What’s On My Mind, where a recent statement from Commissioner Peirce provides us deep insight into the future state of crypto and digital currencies and the road ahead.

Show

Headlines

• First Advisers Act enforcement case under the new administration

Interview with Christine Schleppegrell and Chris Mulligan

• What are some of the regulatory and compliance issues you’re seeing in AI right now?
• How are AI recordkeeping and marketing issues addressed during SEC exams?
• How are firms implementing AI inside their firms?
• What other SEC Marketing Rule items are in focus during SEC exams?
• What areas of the SEC Marketing Rule are you hoping the industry receives more guidance?
• What are some of the current areas of focus from the SEC as it relates to private funds?
• What are some of the challenges between outsourcing versus duplication of services?
• What other areas of focus have you seen recently from the SEC and how do you think they will be impacted by a new administration?

What’s On My Mind

• Reviewing “The Journey Begins” by Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and her commentary on the SEC Crypto Task Force

Quotes

15:17 - “There’s a temptation. So there are temptations on both sides, on the exam side and on the registrant side here, right? So investment advisors, obviously AI is a huge force in the economy and investing, and people what to talk about it. And that’s fine in terms of talking about, you know, how this is going to impact markets, how this is going to impact due diligence processes generally, right? You, sort of, can’t live today and not talk about AI. That’s fine. The problem is it’s easy to, sort of, fall into, it’s easy to fall into the representation of how you either use it, how you look for portfolio companies that use it, how it’s part of your management process, right? So it goes to, sort of, a high-level discussion of AI in our, sort of, you know, in, sort of, our culture and our society. And it goes into specific representations about how you are using it.” - Chris

17:25 - “I think also the other side of the coin is the use of AI for non-investment purposes, so think compliance, operational purposes, to the point that you made earlier, just assessing staffing needs and how those can be addressed, and AI can be...

Welcome back to the Compliance in Context Podcast! On today’s show, we feature a Lessons From The Front Lines episode where we will be providing a comprehensive, deep-dive look at the 2024 SEC Enforcement numbers published at the end of last year—including what was behind some of the eye-popping numbers, distinct areas of focus, and what firms can expect next under a Paul Atkins-led SEC. To help guide us through this important topic and share some fantastic insights for our listeners, we welcome a fantastic panel of experts, Brian Rubin from Eversheds Sutherland and Jim Lundy from Foley and Lardner.

Show

Interview with Brian Rubin and Jim Lundy

• What were the 2024 SEC Enforcement numbers and what do they tell us?

• What trends were present in areas like off-channel business communications and marketing and advertising?

• Did firms get any credit for cooperating with the SEC and how did that manifest?

• What can we expect from Enforcement under a Paul Atkins-led SEC?

• What do you expect from Enforcement pre- and past-Wells letter and with regard to other parts of the process including virtual meetings and open jacket discovery?

• Where do you see Enforcement making substantive changes to its approach under Atkins?

• Can we glean anything from Atkins’ prior dissents that can give us insight into his own priorities as the new Chair?

• What does the future leadership of the SEC look like and what’s next for the Division of Enforcement?

Quotes

11:22 - “Speaking of past data not being indicative of future results. In fiscal year ‘24, the commission brought cases against more than 70 firms, resulting in $600 million more in additional penalties, for those of us who’ve been living through this for the past several years. There’s no surprise that prior to January 2025, that leads to some pretty big numbers. And in the release, enforcement touted that since December of 2021, the initiatives in this space have resulted in changes against more than 100 firms and civil penalties in excess of $2 billion. As Brian mentioned, enforcement continued to be busy after the election through its first fiscal quarter for this fiscal year. And recently announced on January 13th, 12 more actions brought against nine investment advisors and three broker-dealers for off-platform books and records, record-keeping violations, and an additional $63.1 million in total penalties brought against those 12 firms” - Jim

23:17 - “We have a list of a few things that may happen. So, one of them is that there’s probably going to be a push to reduce the time that it takes to investigate cases. Everybody on the defense side and on the enforcement side thinks it takes too long and there’s a variety of reasons that it does take a while. One idea is a simple idea to just simply shorten the time period that investigations have. And although President Trump said he did not read Project 2025, which was a huge sort of white paper on things the new administration could do, one of the recommendations it contained called for statutorily limiting the time for investigations to two years.” - Brian

32:25 - “My personal view, I’m sure Brian wou...

Welcome back to the Compliance In Context podcast! On today’s show, we welcome in former NSCP Chair and current CCO of Robinhood, Norm Ashkenas, to discuss how firms can build a culture of compliance inside their firms and what it takes to build out an effective compliance team. In our Headlines section, the SEC Investor Advisory Committee considered draft recommendations on mandatory arbitration clauses and the expansion of retail investor access to alternative assets (among other items), and a dually registered firm settled SEC charges for failing to timely investigate and report suspicious transactions to FinCEN. And finally, we'll wrap up today's show with another installment of What’s On My Mind, where an old quote from Winnie the Pooh might just be the best thing we can do for our friends and loved ones during the holidays and these cold winter months.

Show

Headlines

• The SEC Investor Advisory Committee considered draft recommendations on mandatory arbitration clauses and the expansion of retail investor access to alternative assets
• Dual registrant settled SEC charges for failing to timely investigate and report suspicious transactions to FinCEN

Interview with Norm Ashkenas

• What is a culture of compliance? What does it mean? How do you know it’s present?
• How can you build a culture of compliance?
• Best practices when building out your compliance team
• Key things to look for when sourcing and building out your compliance team
• The importance of diversity of thought and perspective on your compliance team
• How should firms think about compliance collaboration with other business units as part of the hiring process?
• How should firms view unique skillsets and experiences when building out their compliance team?
• Best practices when using pre-formed hiring questions or question banks

What’s On My Mind

• Using a quote inspired by Winnie the Pooh, part of building our compliance team includes letting them know we’re there for them when they need us most

Quotes

12:20 – “Somebody I didn’t know reached out to me via Slack and said, ‘Hey, so-and-so senior executive thought I should reach out to you because we’re thinking about doing A and he said ‘You should talk to Norm and compliance first to see what they think and how to get it done.’’ That’s what I want to have happen. It’s not about me, it’s about somebody else thinking of compliance when we weren’t there.” – Norm Ashkenas

22:15 – “If you’re asking questions, certainly you’re starting with the technical expertise. If you’re looking for somebody who does surveillance on municipal securities, they have to know a great deal about that space to start, if that’s what you want them to do. So certainly you’re testing for that. Obviously, you are certainly looking for culture fits, again, another overused phrase. But if your firm is the type of firm that seeks to get alignment from everybody and its a firm where they don’t want somebody to present a solution, they want to have conversations with everybody who might be a stakeholder, get them all on the same page, and then have a final discussion, you need to find people who can do that kind of thing. If it’s a firm that’s more entrepreneurial, where it’s, ‘We want you to go solve the problems and see how many people react,’ you have to try to ask quest...