The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published its examination priorities for Fiscal Year 2027, and according to StarCompliance, a compliance technology provider, firms that cannot prove their controls are working day to day face growing exposure as regulators widen their scrutiny.

The regulator’s agenda centres on investor protection, market integrity and the quality of compliance oversight. It also signals closer attention to several specific risk areas, and Star argues that compliance teams will need to manage risk in a forward-looking, adaptable way to meet these expectations.

Among the many topics the SEC lists, four stand out for firm-wide and employee compliance. The first is conflicts of interest and fiduciary duty. The SEC is again stressing whether compliance programmes actually work, which means firms need dependable controls covering employee monitoring, supervision of personal trading, disclosure of outside business activities and even-handed application of policy.

The second area covers emerging technologies and digital assets. With tokenisation, advanced technology and shifting market infrastructure attracting more attention, firms are expected to update their programmes to handle new asset classes, fresh risks and more complex trading conditions.

Cybersecurity and operational resilience form the third priority, alongside the safeguarding of customer information. Star notes that linked data, automated workflows and centralised oversight can help firms tighten risk management, cut operational weak points and work more efficiently.

The fourth area concerns supervision and the effectiveness of compliance programmes. The SEC’s interest in broker-dealer oversight and trading practices means firms must show their controls are put into practice and kept up to date, not simply written down, supported by consistent enforcement and audit trails that can withstand examination.

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