The Securities and Exchange Commission‘s top priority is to increase the number of investment adviser examinations it handles every year. How to go about doing that is another question.

“Significant additional coverage is essential if investors are to be appropriately protected,” SEC Chairman Mary Jo White told lawmakers today, pointing out that in fiscal 2012, the agency examined only 8% of registered investment advisers, who now number about 11,000.

After the hearing at the House Financial Services Committee, Ms. White told reporters that the SEC is agnostic about outsourcing adviser regulation to an industry-funded self-regulatory organization.

“What needs to happen is, there needs to be more examination coverage of investment advisers,” Ms. White said, reiterating her main point to lawmakers. “The SEC’s not taken a position on whether that should be through an SRO or additional funding for the SEC. I don’t have a conclusion on that today.”

Source: InvestmentNews