C&L Annual Seminar Debrief, 2023

Date: March 24, 2023

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Perspectives and Key Themes from Compliance and Legal Professionals

Recently, SIFMA hosted our C&L Annual Seminar. With three days of presentations and events and over 1,700 participants, we gained insights into top-of-mind topics for compliance and legal professionals from across the financial services industry. Inside this note, we recap just some of what was seen and heard, including:

The Industry Outlook: Change is constant. Firms must therefore learn and adapt as the environment changes. The pace of change accelerates every year – firms must make sure their culture keeps up.
The Regulatory Landscape: On equity market structure reform, industry view is this is the most far-reaching set of proposals ever released vs. the SEC’s stated objective is to get best execution for retail; plus, FINRA’s priorities.
The Digital Assets Perspective: ~100% replied the industry needs more regulatory clarity; innovators survive, those who do not innovate do not survive, and those who comply survive.
More on Market Themes: Digital engagement practices – SEC’s focus on labeling misses the point, it’s not the tools but the use; cybersecurity – cannot be a check-the-box exercise, ensuring security requires vigilance.
Market Touchpoints: This report also includes our pre-conference survey and audience polling results.