SEC Examined 15% of RIAs Despite Pandemic: Driscoll

The agency's examiners, Driscoll continued, "engaged in outreach and other efforts with many investment advisers and investment company complexes to assess the impacts of Covid-19 and to gather information, including challenges with operational resiliency and fund liquidity."

Business Continuity Plans 

Most firms "we met with had business continuity plans (BCPs) and had activated them," he stated. A "small percentage of the hundreds of firms" OCIE met with virtually had "pandemic specific plans that were in existence before the Covid-19 pandemic."

BCPs, Driscoll said, "generally were beneficial in addressing the impact of the pandemic."

OCIE found that "critical areas for operations were typically covered in the BCPs," he explained.

"We saw BCPs that provide for personnel to work in separate remote sites, succession plans that address the death or lengthy incapacitation of key personnel and contingency plans for when other essential personnel are unable to work for extended periods," Driscoll added.