Services
SEC Compliance Consultants
Don’t let changing regulatory requirements and investor expectations keep you up at night. HighCamp’s former regulators and SEC compliance consultants streamline and organize your compliance processes so you have the peace of mind to know your compliance program passes its next test.
HighCamp offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored to your compliance needs.
On-Demand Consulting
- SEC Registration
- SEC Examination Support
- Regulatory Filings
- Compliance Program Testing
- Telephone & Email Consulting
Get Support from Former SEC Examiners
From day one of our engagement with our clients, we are prepping them to be ready for an SEC examination. Every policy drafted, request list issued, deliverable written, and consultation is curated through years of experience performing and navigating clients through examinations.
Spot Red Flags
Enjoy peace of mind knowing we have your back. We review and proactively monitor your risks for anything that might cause a compliance issue.
Give LPs the Diligence They Expect
We are business owners that happen to be compliance experts. This unique perspective not only helps us manage our client’s next SEC exam, but also provides leading industry insights to ensure they ace the next investor operational due diligence meeting.
FAQs
When should we expect to be examined by the SEC?
The SEC’s Division of Examinations examines about 15-20 percent of SEC registered investment advisers each year. There are a variety of reasons that advisers are selected for an exam and many of those reasons are in the “routine” category. Advisers that have not been examined and are newly registered (in the past 12 months or so) are most ripe for selection as part of the “never-before examined” initiative.
What are common deficiencies cited by the SEC as part of examinations?
The Division of Examinations issues risk alerts that discuss common examination deficiencies, and are a good inventory of citations. For example, this Risk Alert from 2022 discusses common private fund adviser deficiencies.
What are the most common mistakes that you’ve seen during SEC examinations?
An organized and professional team and high level of common sense are all you need to successfully navigate most examination inquires. That aside, the most common mistakes often result from being unprepared for an exam, including: the inability to produce records in a responsive and prompt fashion, not adequately preparing employees for examiner interview questions, and not resolving past annual review findings or exam deficiencies.
When should we get a mock SEC exam?
The is no one size fits all approach to this question. It depends on recent examination experiences (or lack thereof), interested investors, compliance team experience, recent changes to the staff or business, and much more. Every other year seems to be a good industry benchmark.
How are examinations being conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The overall approach to exams during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been that different. The Division of Examinations conducted “correspondent” examinations prior to the pandemic so that is not new. You can expect that the scope of each exam now includes work from home risks. There are pros and cons to not having the physical examiner visit to the office.
How should we evaluate Chief Compliance Officer Liability?
Compliance obligations are ultimately the responsibility of the firm (not the CCO). Yet, there are situations where CCOs have incurred personal liability, so it is understandably a key consideration. HighCamp summarized SEC Commissioner Peirce’s statement supporting a CCO liability framework by the Compliance Committee of the New York City Bar Association that applies six questions to the determine whether CCO liability would be appropriate.
When should we document (or not document) compliance violations?
There are competing views on this very challenging topic. On one hand, regulators have been known to take the view that if it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen. Proactive documentation allows you to frame the dialog rather than potentially waiting for a regulator to frame the matter. On the other hand, giving a regulator a roadmap to those items could set your firm up for additional scrutiny. Striking a balance between the two views is an artform in itself. There are certain events that require documentation, such as requirements under client governing documents or code of ethics rules, but there remains a lot of grey area in the middle. The key is to get on the same page with your team and your advisers, and most importantly be able to evidence corrective measures taken.
How do we stay informed about SEC priorities and investor expectations?
There are many forums that can be great resources to CCOs. Many metro areas have CFO and CCO roundtables and groups that can be an excellent source of information. The SEC also publishes exam priorities annually, along with many risk alerts and guidance announcements. In addition, signing up for mailing and invite lists of law firms and consultancies is a good way to get added practitioner color on SEC events. HighCamp summarizes key events for private fund managers in our quarterly client letters.