SEC Exam Priorities Briefing

November 15, 2024 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (ET)

Members of the IAA’s legal team will present a briefing webinar discussing the SEC’s recently released 2025 examination priorities. This year’s examinations will “prioritize perennial and emerging risk areas, such as fiduciary duty, standards of conduct, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.”

The IAA legal team will discuss significant areas of focus for investment advisers including, for example:

Adherence to the fiduciary duty
Effectiveness of compliance programs
Private fund advisers
Cybersecurity and information security
Books and records associated with T+1
Digital engagement practices
Artificial intelligence

Registration is now closed. IAA members may email Mary Kanda to request a recording of the webinar.

If you have questions about this webinar or need help registering, please contact Mary Kanda at mary.kanda@investmentadviser.org.

Webinar Speakers

Gail C. Bernstein is general counsel and head of public policy for the IAA, responsible for legal matters affecting the IAA and for the development and execution of the IAA’s regulatory advocacy and engagement on behalf of its members. She is also responsible for working with IAA members on legal, regulatory, and compliance issues affecting investment advisers. Gail joined the IAA in 2017 from the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, D.C., where she had been both a special counsel and a partner in the Securities Department. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School and, after law school, clerked for the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Monique S. Botkin is associate general counsel of the IAA. Prior to joining the IAA in 2004, she was an associate in the financial services groups at Dechert LLP in Newport Beach, California, and Alston & Bird LLP in Washington, DC. While in private practice, Botkin represented investment advisers, registered investment companies, private funds, and broker-dealers in corporate, securities and investment management matters. Botkin also served as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management disclosure review office from 2013 to 2014. She earned her B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland at College Park and her J.D., cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, where she was an editor of the Law Review.

Sarah Buescher is special counsel of the IAA. Before joining the IAA, Buescher served as a branch chief in the Investment Adviser Regulation Office in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. She also worked in the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel and started her legal career in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. She also previously worked at Vanguard, first in the Legal Department as associate counsel and senior counsel, and later in the Compliance Department as manager of international compliance. She earned her B.S. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Laura L. Grossman is associate general counsel of the IAA. She has more than 20 years of experience as an investment management attorney. Prior to joining the IAA in 2012, she was in private practice for over 10 years in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where she advised registered investment adviser, mutual fund and private fund clients on matters arising under the Investment Advisers Act, the Investment Company Act and other federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and associated regulations, and a wide range of compliance issues. Grossman received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Rutgers College, and she received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sanjay Lamba is associate general counsel at the IAA. Prior to joining the IAA, Lamba worked at SEC headquarters for 10 years, beginning his service in the rulemaking office of the Division of Investment Management before transferring to the Office of Chief Counsel (Legal Branch) in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations in 2010. Prior to the SEC, he was in private practice advising registered investment adviser and mutual fund clients on a wide range of matters arising under the federal securities laws. He received his B.S. degree in Finance from George Mason University and his law degree from Boston University.

William A. Nelson is director of public policy and associate general counsel at the IAA. Previously, he was assistant general counsel and public policy counsel at CFP Board and chief compliance officer for Mercer Advisors. He has also held roles as an attorney with both the U.S. Departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs. Nelson has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and George Washington University Law School. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, his J.D. with Honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, and his LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School.

Tracy M. Soehle is associate general counsel at the IAA. Previously, she was managing director and senior counsel at Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. where she was responsible for overseeing AMG’s regulatory affairs and legal and compliance support of its global operations and Affiliates. Prior to joining AMG, Tracy was a senior compliance manager at State Street Global Advisors; regulatory compliance manager at Wellington Management Company LLP; and an attorney at the law firm Dechert LLP. She received a B.S. from Boston College and a J.D. from Tulane University Law School.

SEC Exam Priorities Briefing

Webinar Speakers

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