Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have released its first “ComplianceAlert” letter to help chief compliance officers of SEC-registered firms learn more about common deficiencies and weaknesses that SEC examiners are finding during compliance examinations.

The letter summarizes select areas that SEC examiners have recently reviewed during examinations, describes issues that were found, and encourages firms to review compliance in these areas and implement improvements as appropriate. The SEC says that this broader sharing of recent examination findings can benefit compliance officers and help them to proactively fine-tune their compliance and supervisory controls.

The first ComplianceAlert letter deals with recent examination findings in several areas, including investment advisers’ performance advertising and business continuity planning; and broker-dealers’ compliance with short-selling rules, and sales of collateralized mortgage obligations, real estate investment trust products, and college savings plans.

SEC chairman Christopher Cox said, “Investors are best protected when securities firms operate in full compliance with the law. Along with our CCOutreach Program, these ComplianceAlert letters are another step in our efforts to continue helping chief compliance officers foster robust compliance in the securities industry.”

Lori Richards, director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, said, “By sharing information about our examination findings, our goal is to alert firms to areas of compliance weakness so that they can take steps to proactively address any problems. Compliance staff at securities firms have often told us that they really value this kind of information, because they can use it as a roadmap to ensure that their firms have strong compliance and supervisory programs in these areas.”