WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legal Director and Securities Specialist Stephen Hall issued the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ Comment Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the agency’s proposal to enhance cybersecurity standards applicable to registered advisers and investment companies:

“Despite the increasing number and sophistication of cyberattacks and data breaches in our financial markets, there are currently no comprehensive rules that require advisers or funds to adopt and implement cybersecurity standards. With more than $100 trillion in assets under management by more than 14,000 advisers across the industry, a cyberattack or data breach of only a small portion of those assets could have wide-ranging impacts on investors and financial stability more broadly.

“Enhancing the cybersecurity resiliency of our financial markets and increasing transparency into the cyber risks facing registered investment advisers and registered investment companies is desperately needed in today’s digital economy. This proposal would help accomplish both of these goals by ensuring that advisers and funds are properly mitigating the risks associated with cyberattacks and data breaches and safeguarding investors’ data and funds.  It would also increase information sharing between the private and public sectors to mitigate systemic risk.

“As we argued in our comment letter, the SEC should move forward with its proposal but also consider further enhancing disclosures to clients and investors and shortening the incident reporting window.  The bottom line is that we need strong cybersecurity standards in place to protect investors and financial stability in our capital markets.”

Read our full Comment Letter here.

###

Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.

Contact: Anton Becker at 202-618-6430 or abecker@bettermarkets.org