SEC publishes new examination handbook explaining process for regulated firms

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a new examination handbook in Washington on Oct. 1, replacing and expanding its earlier brochure for regulated firms. The Division of Examinations says the guide explains what firms can expect as an examination moves from selection and information requests to findings and follow-up. For firms preparing records and responding to examiners, it puts the agency’s stated process and timing expectations in one document.

The SEC calls the publication The SEC Exam Handbook: A Practical Guide on Process and Engagement. In its announcement, the agency said the guide is intended to give registrants more detail about examinations conducted by division staff across the country. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said it clarifies the process and establishes expectations for regulated entities. Division Director Keith Cassidy said the division aimed to answer registrants’ requests for clarity and make examinations more predictable. Those are the officials’ stated aims; the announcement does not measure whether the handbook has achieved them.

How the SEC handbook describes an examination

The guide covers the sequence from risk assessment and selection of an examination candidate through planning, announcement, requests for information, interviews and possible onsite work. It also describes dialogue during the examination, an exit conference where appropriate, a disposition letter and a firm’s response to any findings. RiskTemplates, an independent compliance publisher, describes the document as a start-to-finish map of that process. Its account says staff may review a firm’s filings, website and other information before the firm receives an examination notice.

According to the handbook account recorded by RiskTemplates, most examinations begin with a call to the chief compliance officer or another regulatory contact. The examination may then involve requests for documents and interviews with staff who can explain a firm’s operations and controls. An onsite visit is possible, but the stages described in the handbook do not mean every examination will follow an identical path. The SEC says the guide is designed to make its process more consistent; the cited material does not establish that examinations have become more consistent in practice.

Record requests and the difference between two timing expectations

For compliance staff, the practical issue is knowing which records answer a request and tracking what has been sent. RiskTemplates recommends a record map and a request-level production tracker as its own implementation advice. Those suggested controls should not be mistaken for new SEC rules. The publisher also says the handbook discusses reasonable extensions and rolling productions, making communication with examiners relevant when an initial production cannot be completed on the usual schedule.

What happens when SEC examiners identify deficiencies

RiskTemplates reports that the handbook describes a disposition letter after examination work and receipt of requested information. Its account gives a 180-day milestone tied to the completion of onsite work and receipt of records, followed by a typical 30-day period for a registrant to respond to a deficiency letter. Staff then strives to provide any further comments within 60 days of the response. These milestones describe stages of the process; they do not establish how long an entire examination will last.

A deficiency letter identifies matters for a firm to address. RiskTemplates notes a consequential limit on the follow-up process: an absence of further staff comments should not be read as SEC agreement with a firm’s response. Its analysis urges firms to keep track of corrective work and evidence of completion. That is the publisher’s advice about managing a response, separate from the SEC’s description of its examination process.

What legal effect the handbook has

The handbook does not create new legal duties, according to RiskTemplates’ account of its final-page disclaimer. The publisher says the document presents Division of Examinations staff views, has no legal force or effect, and does not alter applicable law. That distinction matters for firms deciding how to use the guide: it describes how staff says examinations will work and what staff expects, while existing law remains the source of legal obligations.

The handbook also leaves an important outcome unknown. The SEC announcement presents greater clarity and consistency as goals, and the handbook sets out process milestones. Neither the announcement nor the independent analysis establishes that the publication has shortened examinations, reduced disputes or changed compliance outcomes. The guide gives firms a more detailed account of the agency’s stated approach, rather than evidence of its effects.

How the new guide fits the SEC’s work on procedures

A Government Accountability Office report published earlier in 2026 provides context for how the division maintains examination procedures. GAO said the Division of Examinations reviews its staff-procedures manual every four years and gathers feedback through committees, a mailbox, training, newsletters and town halls. GAO also reported that a 25-manager Exam Process Advisory Committee met 16 times in fiscal 2024 and contributed to three major revisions of the examination manual. Those findings concern the agency’s internal procedures; they do not evaluate the effects of the handbook published on Oct. 1.

The SEC provides the new handbook through its announcement and the linked PDF. Its publication gives registrants a common reference for the stages, communications and timing the division says they can expect. Whether those expectations lead to a more predictable experience will depend on subsequent examinations, which the available sources do not assess.