John P. Falco Quoted in ACA Insight Article, 'Get the Most from the Exam Postmortem'
John P. Falco, a partner in the Financial Services Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton, was quoted in the October 29, 2018 ACA Insight article, "Get the Most from the Exam Postmortem."
“After an [SEC] exam, it is a good idea to consider both the process for responding to the SEC staff and the substance of the exam,” said Pepper Hamilton partner John Falco. “On process, firms should review how efficient they were in responding to [exam] staff requests, both written and oral, how their interactions with the staff can be improved at the next exam, whether there were issues producing documents in a timely manner (location of records, electronic vs. paper, etc.), what type of burden was put on the adviser’s resources and staff, and any way to improve the process going forward.”
“On the substance, the adviser needs to be proactive in addressing exam issues identified by the exam staff in order to avoid being deemed non-responsive or a recidivist,” he said. “Even if there were no exceptions identified by the staff, an examination provides an opportunity to review a firm’s procedures and potentially improve them. Discussions with the exam staff will inform an adviser of focus areas of the staff, and staff views on best practices.”