As part of the transformation of securities regulation in the U.S. that has been underway for the past year, including a starkly different approach to enforcement and a much friendlier stance on crypto, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now consulting on a new strategic plan.
On Tuesday, the SEC published a draft strategic plan that calls for feedback on its efforts aimed at “returning the agency to the core mission set by Congress.”
On policy, the agency said it aims to focus on regulation that supports “innovation, capital formation, market efficiency, and investor protection.”
“Modernizing and simplifying disclosure practices, expanding access to private markets, and enabling new capital-raising pathways are essential to ensuring that entrepreneurs and small businesses can thrive,” it said. “At the same time, regulatory burdens must be carefully calibrated to avoid needless friction in the marketplace.”
It also said it will review its existing rules in certain areas, including the rules for foreign private issuers, executive compensation and private fund reporting.
“Retrospective reviews should assess whether rules continue to achieve their intended goals, identify unintended consequences, and consider whether alternative approaches could better serve investors and the public interest,” it said.
Additionally, the SEC set out an objective of providing a regulatory foundation for the adoption of digital assets and distributed ledger technologies.
“This includes clarifying the boundaries of securities law as it applies to digital assets, enabling compliant capital formation through tokenized offerings, and supporting the development of onchain financial infrastructure,” the regulator said.
On enforcement, the SEC stressed its goal of reorienting its approach to targeting “violations of established law such as fraud and manipulation” — and steering away from enforcement activity that involves novel cases or expands the agency’s reach into new areas.
It also pledged to review its adjudicative processes to ensure fairness and the separation of powers.
“Assessing the SEC’s administrative law framework will focus on ways to enhance public trust, reduce litigation risk, and align the agency’s practices with evolving legal standards,” it said.
Finally, the plan also calls for modernizing the agency’s operations, technology and workforce.
To that end, it calls for a comprehensive review of the SEC’s legacy systems, such as regulatory filing system known as EDGAR, and “the adoption of secure, scalable infrastructure will enhance data integrity, reduce operational risk, and support advanced analytics.”
It added that it will use technology, such as AI and blockchains, to help enhance its oversight capabilities, reduce costs and enhance efficiency.
The draft plan is out for comment until July 2.