SEC adds tokenisation and AI risks to 2027 exam priorities

Summary: The SEC’s October 23 examination-priorities announcement for fiscal 2027 flags tokenisation and emerging technologies as risks to monitor. The programme covers registered advisers, funds, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, and other participants.

Focus areas

The agenda recognises changing market architecture and includes AI and “super intelligence” for their potential effects on compliance, fraud, and market operations. Traditional priorities remain: conflicts of interest, custody of customer information, and operational resilience.

Why it matters

Onchain securities still require core safeguards: record-keeping, processes for failed transactions, mechanisms for exercising investor rights, and clear allocation of duties to customer-facing entities. Faster settlement does not remove these responsibilities.

Regulatory stance

The priorities set a risk-based monitoring plan, not a prohibition on tokenised products and not a finding of rule violations. Firms building new venues and custody models must show their control environment advances at the same pace as their technology.