President Biden has signaled a shift to a more assertive SEC Enforcement program with the nomination, and expected confirmation, of Gary Gensler as the next Chair of the SEC.  Mr. Gensler previously served as the Chairman of the CFTC from 2009 to 2014, where he established a reputation as a forceful regulator. This reputation suggests that we should expect a significant increase in enforcement actions against private fund managers.

Under former Chairman Clayton, private fund advisers benefited indirectly from the SEC’s focus on ”Main Street” investors.  More of the SEC’s limited resources were devoted to addressing retail fraud, leaving fewer resources available to focus on private funds.  As former Enforcement Director Stephanie Avakian explained recently, the SEC relied more heavily on exams by OCIE (recently renamed the “Division of Examinations”)  – through deficiency notices and remediation, rather than enforcement actions – to address perceived private fund compliance violations.  Whether the SEC returns to the more assertive “broken windows” approach to regulation under prior administrations remains to be seen.