SEC Releases FY22-26 Strategic Plan

In November, the SEC released its Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2022 to 2026 which outlines the agency’s objectives to “fight against fraud, maintain a robust and relevant regulatory framework, and sustain a skilled and diverse workforce to serve America’s investors and capital-raising entrepreneurs alike.” The plan notes that the Commission plans to “continue to update the disclosure framework to address these areas of investor demand, as well as continue to take concrete steps to modernize the systems that support the disclosure framework, to make public disclosures easier to access and analyze and thus more decision-useful to investors.” While the report only lightly refers to crypto assets, it does note “the SEC must pursue new authorities from Congress where needed” in order to better prepare for market developments. In reaction to the release, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated, “it is critical that the SEC continue to evolve and modernize our rulesets as technology, business models, and our markets change.”