WASHINGTON -- The SEC has promoted a new deputy to help lead the division that conducts examinations of financial advisors and brokers.
The commission tapped Marc Wyatt for deputy director of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, the unit that the advisory industry watches closely for indications of shifting regulatory concerns.
Wyatt came to the SEC in December 2012, serving as a senior examiner specializing in examinations of hedge fund and private equity fund advisors, a new category of oversight that the commission assumed under the Dodd-Frank Act.
"During his time here, Marc has demonstrated exceptional drive, judgment and knowledge of the industry," OCIE Director Andrew Bowden said in a statement, calling Wyatt "a superb manager and communicator."
"He will continue to be an effective advocate for investors in his new position within OCIE," Bowden added. A spokeswoman for the SEC declined to comment on Wyatt's priorities for his new role as the second in command at OCIE, instead pointing to the annual priorities letter the division releases.
TOP PRIORITIES
In this year's guidance, OCIE, which oversees RIAs, investment companies, broker-dealers and clearing agencies, transfer agents and self-regulatory organizations, outlined a number of industrywide areas of concern, including fraud detection, conflicts of interest and cybersecurity. The office also cited issues around advisors who are dually registered as an RIA and broker-dealer, warning about the potential for clients to be placed in an inappropriate type of account.
In the advisor sector, OCIE says that it is taking a close look at adherence to the custody rule, promising that "examiners will pay particular attention to those instances where advisers fail to realize they have custody."
Other areas of focus include advisors' marketing activities and performance claims, disclosures and never-before-examined advisors.
Wyatt brings a solid background in the fund space. At the SEC, he serves as the national coordinator of OCIE's Private Fund Specialized Working Group, and helped create the Private Fund Examination Unit to oversee that sector.
Prior to joining the commission, Wyatt was a principal and senior portfolio manager at the global hedge fund Stark Investments, and served as chief executive of the firm's U.K. unit. Wyatt previously had stints as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch U.K. and Alex. Brown in Baltimore.
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