Key takeaways:

• The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) has issued a Risk Alert announcing it will conduct examinations of 50 registered broker-dealers and investment advisers (a category that includes private equity and hedge fund advisers, as well as mutual fund advisers) to assess their cybersecurity preparedness and to gather information about the industry’s experience with cyber threats.
• The Risk Alert highlights the SEC’s increasing focus on cybersecurity. The alert includes a sample cybersecurity document request containing examples of questions that OCIE examiners may ask during inspections. SEC registrants should see the sample request as a roadmap both for possible examination by OCIE, and for internal assessment and improvement of their cybersecurity programs.