SEC Announces Creation of Office of Risk and Strategy and Names Driscoll Chief

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced the creation of the Office of Risk and Strategy within its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). This new office will consolidate and streamline OCIE’s risk assessment, market surveillance and quantitative analysis teams, as well as provide operational risk management and organizational strategy for the OCIE.

The agency chose Peter B. Driscoll to lead the office, and he has been named as the first Chief Risk and Strategy Officer. This position will manage the new office and the Investment Advisor/Investment Company examination staff based in Washington, D.C.

The OCIE conducts the SEC’s National Examination Program through examinations of SEC-registered investment advisers, investment companies, broker-dealers, municipal advisors, self-regulatory organizations, clearing agencies and transfer agents. It uses a risk-based approach to examinations to fulfill its mission to promote compliance with U.S. securities laws, prevent fraud, monitor risk and inform SEC policy.

OCIE Director Marc Wyatt commented:

The Office of Risk and Strategy will lead our exam program’s risk-based, data-driven, and transparent approach to protecting investors. Pete brings exceptional industry and operational knowledge, strategic leadership, and a track record of innovation to his new role.

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Driscoll added:

I am honored to have the opportunity to lead such a talented staff and am excited to advance our development of new tools and techniques that strengthen OCIE’s risk analysis, surveillance, and strategic abilities on behalf of investors.

Driscoll has been OCIE’s managing executive since 2013. He started at the SEC in 2001 as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement in the agency’s Chicago Regional Office. Driscoll later joined OCIE in 2004 as a branch chief in the Investment Adviser/Investment Company program in the Chicago office and later served as the Chicago office’s Ethics Liaison Officer and Assistant Regional Director.