The U.S. General Accounting Office has issued a study stating that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and industry officials believe that the regulator’s ability to fulfill its mission has become increasingly strained partly due to imbalances between its workload and staff resources.

It notes that while total assets under management by investment companies and investment advisers increased by about 264% over 10 years, the number of investment company and investment advisor examination staff has increased by only 166%.

This has created several challenges for the SEC. The study found that resource constraints have contributed to substantial delays in the turnaround time for many SEC regulatory and oversight activities, such as approvals for rule filings and exemptive applications; has contributed to bottlenecks in the examination and inspection area; and has forced the SEC to be more selective in its enforcement activities and lengthened the time required to complete certain enforcement investigations.

The study also found that certain filings were subject to less frequent and less complete reviews as workloads increased. SEC and industry officials also said that the SEC has been increasingly challenged in addressing emerging issues, including technology-driven innovations such as exchange-traded funds.

The study notes the SEC’s high turnover rate as a major challenge in managing its workload and recommends that the SEC explore innovative ways to attract senior level staff and bring in additional information technology expertise to better position itself to oversee evolving securities markets. In the long-term, the study recommends that the SEC address several issues relating to strategic planning by broadening the SEC’s strategic planning process to systematically determine regulatory priorities and resource levels needed to fulfill its mission.