Advisories

New SEC Inspection Checklist Provides Guidance For Chief Compliance Officers

February 2005

Through December 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission has provided little guidance as to the expected role of Chief Compliance Officers ("CCOs") for registered investment advisers or investment companies. Consequently, an SEC inspection checklist, which was recently released by one of the SEC’s regional offices, is valuable for understanding what the SEC expects of the newly created CCO job under the SEC’s Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act regulations. The inspection checklist is used by SEC examiners during the inspection of registered investment advisers. We believe that the issues raised by this checklist will also be applicable to SEC inspections of registered investment companies.