The SEC has modified its examinations hotline to give investment advisers the option of directing their complaints about SEC audits to the agency’s inspector general, said John Heine, an SEC spokesman.
Previously, hotline complaints were fielded exclusively by OCIE representatives, discouraging some money managers from using it, according to a GAO report released today. “Their concerns about OCIE’s receiving their complaints or concerns included a perceived lack of impartiality,” the GAO report said.
In a letter attached to the GAO report, Lori Richards, OCIE director, said her office was developing the revised system allowing callers to continue to deal with OCIE reps or to talk to staff in the inspector general’s office.
The GAO report also said the SEC could do a better job identifying higher-risk firms for examinations if the agency included information on the firms’ SEC compliance programs in its risk analysis. First, however, the SEC would have to require firms to submit the reports.
