Second SEC commissioner stumps for CCO liability framework

A second commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called for the agency to establish a framework that would describe scenarios in which a chief compliance officer would be held liable for securities law violations made by their firm.

In a speech delivered Monday at an industry event, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda urged regulators to “clearly describe the circumstances under which a CCO will be held liable for a firm’s violations of the federal securities laws.”

He noted the SEC’s lack of a CCO liability framework “has been the source of a great deal of concern” for compliance officers, particularly given the flood of new regulations the commission has either implemented, approved, or placed in its pipeline.