According to the SEC’s draft strategic plan for the next four years, the agency plans on shifting its enforcement focus regarding Reg BI to “making a recommendation.” The SEC’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 states that the agency intends to bring cases that matter to “all parts of the SEC’s mission.” This includes failure to act in a retail customer’s best interests when making a recommendation, among other items. Kurt Gottschall, a partner in Haynes Boone, and a former director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office told ThinkAdvisor that the language “indicates the SEC is ready to move beyond basic compliance and disclosure obligations to scrutinize the placement of retail investors’ funds in advisory versus brokerage accounts, whether complex or risky products were offered to those investors, and registered representatives’ consideration of costs.”

Finsum:Based on the language in the SEC’s four-year strategic plan, advisors and Broker-dealers will need to pay more attention to compensation arrangements and product placements.