January 7, 2026

2026 Planning for SEC and FINRA Examination Priorities in a Principle-Based, AI-Heavy Environment

The SEC and FINRA have entered aprinciple-based regulatory era that demands stronger internal standards,clearer documentation, and greater accountability from firms. At the same time,the rapid rise of AI — from note-taking tools to LLM-powered workflows — iscreating new compliance risks, shifting supervision models, and raisingquestions about data governance and explainability.