Regulatory library

The rules an adviser's compliance program actually runs on. Every entry says what legal weight it carries before it says anything else, because the difference between a rule, a staff position and an examiner's observation is the most useful fact about a document and the one most often blurred.

Free, no account, no email. This is the same corpus Luna cites inside the product, so you can read what it reads.

Three layers, kept apart

Each page separates what the source says, what it requires in plain English, and what examiners tend to find. The first is the Commission's. The second and third are ours, labelled as ours, and neither is legal advice. The authoritative text is always one click away at the regulator, which is the version that cannot go stale.

/

Filter by subject

Binding law

The statute and the rules under it. This is what an adviser is required to do.

Current · binding law
Antifraud provision
Advisers Act Section 206 · 15 U.S.C. 80b-6
The antifraud provision, and the source of the fiduciary duty an adviser owes its clients. It is unlawful for any adviser, using the mails or interstate commerce, to employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud a client or prospective client; to engage in any transaction, practice or course of business that operates as a fraud or deceit on a client or prospective client; knowingly to trade with a client as principal for its own account, or to act as broker for someone other than the client on the other side of a client's trade, without disclosing that capacity in writing and obtaining the client's consent before completion; or to engage in any act, practice or course of business that is fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative.
Current · binding law
Form ADV Amendment Rule
Rule 204-1 · 17 CFR 275.204-1
Requires an adviser to amend Form ADV Parts 1 and 2 at least annually, within 90 days of the end of its fiscal year, and more frequently than that where the instructions to Form ADV require it. Part 3, the relationship summary, is amended at the frequency the instructions set.
Current · binding law
Books and Records Rule
Rule 204-2 · 17 CFR 275.204-2
The records an adviser must make and keep, and for how long. The paragraphs a compliance program touches most often are (a)(11) copies of advertisements and of any questionnaire or survey behind a third-party rating, (a)(12) the code of ethics and records of violations, (a)(13) access person reports, (a)(14) brochures and Form CRS, (a)(15) records supporting testimonials, endorsements and third-party ratings, (a)(16) the records supporting performance in advertisements, (a)(17) the compliance policies and any records documenting the annual review, (a)(18) the political contribution records required by the pay-to-play rule, and (a)(25) the Regulation S-P records added in 2024.
Current · binding law
Brochure Rule
Rule 204-3 · 17 CFR 275.204-3
Requires delivery of the Form ADV Part 2A brochure before or at the time of entering into an advisory contract, and of each Part 2B supplement before or at the time the supervised person it covers begins to provide advisory services to the client. Where the brochure has materially changed since the last annual updating amendment, the adviser must deliver within 120 days of fiscal year end either the updated brochure or a summary of the material changes with an offer of the brochure, the website address (if any), the e-mail address (if any) and telephone number for obtaining it, and the address of the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website.
Current, conditional · binding law
Form CRS Delivery Rule
Rule 204-5 · 17 CFR 275.204-5
Requires a registered adviser to deliver Form CRS, the relationship summary, to each retail investor: before or at the time of entering into an advisory contract; to an existing client who opens a new account, is recommended a rollover, or is offered a new service; and within 30 days upon a retail investor's request. The current version must be posted prominently on the adviser's website, and any changes to it must be communicated to existing retail investor clients within 60 days after the amendment is required to be made.
Current · binding law
Code of Ethics Rule
Rule 204A-1 · 17 CFR 275.204A-1
Requires a written code of ethics setting a standard of business conduct reflecting the adviser's fiduciary obligations, compliance with the federal securities laws, personal securities reporting by access persons with review of those reports, prompt reporting of violations, and delivery of the code to every supervised person with a written acknowledgement back. Access persons file an initial holdings report within ten days of becoming an access person, current as of a date no more than 45 days before they became one; an annual holdings report at least once each 12-month period, current as of a date no more than 45 days before it is submitted; and quarterly transaction reports within 30 days of quarter end.
Current · binding law
Marketing Rule
Rule 206(4)-1 · 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1
Replaced the former advertising and cash solicitation rules with a single principles-based rule. Paragraph (a) sets seven general prohibitions, including untrue statements, unsubstantiated claims, benefits discussed without fair and balanced treatment of material risks, and performance presented without fairness and balance.
Current, conditional · binding law
Custody Rule
Rule 206(4)-2 · 17 CFR 275.206(4)-2
Where an adviser has custody, client assets must be held by a qualified custodian, clients must be notified promptly of the custodian and account details and of any change, the adviser must have a reasonable basis to believe the custodian sends account statements at least quarterly, and the client funds and securities in the adviser's custody are verified by an annual surprise examination by an independent public accountant at a time irregular from year to year and chosen without prior notice, reported on Form ADV-E within 120 days. The examination does not apply where custody arises only from fee deduction, to pooled vehicles that distribute audited financial statements, or where custody arises only from an operationally independent related person.
Current · binding law
Pay-to-Play Rule
Rule 206(4)-5 · 17 CFR 275.206(4)-5
An adviser may not receive compensation for providing advisory services to a government entity within two years after a contribution to an official of that entity by the adviser or one of its covered associates. A de minimis exception covers contributions by a natural person of up to $350 per official per election where the contributor was entitled to vote for that official, and $150 where they were not.
Current · binding law
Compliance Rule
Rule 206(4)-7 · 17 CFR 275.206(4)-7
Three obligations in one short rule. An adviser must adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the Act by the adviser and its supervised persons; review their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation no less frequently than annually; and designate a supervised person as chief compliance officer to administer them.
Current, conditional · binding law
Identity Theft Red Flags Rule
Regulation S-ID, Rule 201 · 17 CFR 248.201
Requires a firm that offers or maintains covered accounts to have a written Identity Theft Prevention Program, appropriate to its size and complexity, designed to identify relevant red flags, detect them, respond appropriately when one is detected, and be updated periodically as risks change. The board of directors or an appropriate committee of it must approve the initial programme (a firm with no board designates a senior management employee to act as one).
Current · binding law
Safeguards and Disposal Rule
Regulation S-P, Rule 30 · 17 CFR 248.30
Requires written policies and procedures addressing administrative, technical and physical safeguards for customer information, and written policies for the proper disposal of customer information and consumer information. The Commission amended the rule in May 2024 (89 FR 47688, effective 2 August 2024) to add an incident response programme, service provider oversight and notice to affected individuals.

Commission positions

Adopting releases and interpretations. The Commission's own explanation of its rules.

Proposed, not effective · Commission position
Crypto custody proposal
Release IA-7023 (proposed) · Proposed 17 CFR 275.223-1
Proposed on 1 October 2026 (Release Nos. IA-7023; IC-36353): new rules and amendments under the Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act addressing how advisers and regulated funds can custody crypto assets.
Current · Commission position
Marketing Rule adopting release
Release No. IA-5653 · 86 FR 13024
The Commission's explanation of the Marketing Rule, and the place the definition of “advertisement” is actually worked out. The definition has two prongs.
Current · Commission position
Reg S-P 2024 amendments
Release Nos. 34-100155; IA-6604; IC-35193 · 89 FR 47688
The Commission's own explanation of what it did to Regulation S-P and why, published at 89 FR 47688 on 3 June 2024 and effective 2 August 2024. It adds a written incident response programme reasonably designed to detect, respond to and recover from unauthorised access to or use of customer information; written policies for oversight of service providers through due diligence and monitoring, while leaving the covered institution responsible for notification even where it is delegated; notice to affected individuals as soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days, after becoming aware that unauthorised access to or use of customer information has occurred or is reasonably likely to have occurred, unless, after a reasonable investigation, the institution determines that sensitive customer information has not been, and is not reasonably likely to be, used in a manner that would result in substantial harm or inconvenience; a broadened definition of customer information that reaches information about another institution's customers held by the adviser; and written records documenting compliance..

Staff guidance

The staff's views. Useful, frequently relied on, and expressly not a rule.

Current · not a rule
Marketing Rule FAQs
Marketing Compliance FAQ
The Division of Investment Management's running answers on the Marketing Rule. The current set covers compliance timing, gross and net performance, extracted performance and how it may be presented, portfolio characteristics such as yield, volatility and attribution and whether fees must be deducted from them, the use of a model fee in net performance, and disqualification events for testimonials and endorsements.
Current · not a rule
Reg S-P small entity guide
Small Entity Compliance Guide
A short plain-language walk through the 2024 Regulation S-P amendments, the SEC staff's small entity compliance guide under section 212 of SBREFA. It sets out the two compliance dates, 3 December 2025 for larger entities and 3 June 2026 for smaller ones, and covers the incident response programme, service provider oversight, the notification obligation and the recordkeeping requirement..
Current · fact-specific
Standing letters of authorization
IAA No-Action Letter (21 February 2017)
Staff of the Division of Investment Management's Chief Counsel's Office responded to the Investment Adviser Association on standing letters of instruction. The staff disagreed with the IAA's position and concluded that an adviser with SLOA authority to transfer client funds to a third party does have custody under Rule 206(4)-2.

Examination and enforcement

What examiners have been finding, what they say they will look at next, and what the Commission has charged. Settled orders decide nothing about your firm: nothing was admitted and nothing was adjudicated.

Settled order · no admission, not precedent
AI claims: Delphia and Global Predictions
SEC Press Release 2024-36
On 18 March 2024 the Commission announced settled charges against Delphia (USA) Inc. and Global Predictions Inc.
Settled order · no admission, not precedent
Hypothetical performance sweep
SEC Press Release 2023-173
On 11 September 2023 the Commission announced settled charges against nine registered investment advisers over hypothetical performance. The SEC's orders find that the firms advertised hypothetical performance to the general public on their websites without adopting and/or implementing policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure the performance was relevant to the likely financial situation and investment objectives of the intended audience.
Current · observations, not law
FY2026 examination priorities
Examination Priorities FY2026
The Division of Examinations' published focus areas for the fiscal year, announced 17 November 2025 (press release 2025-132). For advisers the stated core areas include fiduciary duty and standards of conduct, the custody rule, and the 2024 amendments to Regulation S-P.
Current · observations, not law
Annual compliance review observations
Risk Alert
Division of Examinations staff observations on advisers' annual compliance reviews under Rule 206(4)-7, published 14 September 2026. The staff frames it as areas advisers may want to consider when conducting their reviews, and encourages firms to reflect on their practices and make any appropriate changes.
Current · observations, not law
SEC Exam Handbook
SEC Form 2389 (09-26)
The Division of Examinations' guide to how an examination runs, published 1 October 2026 as SEC Form 2389 and replacing the examination brochure that every request letter enclosed. It walks through the process from start to finish: how firms are selected, the call that announces an exam, the information request, requests to custodians and other third parties, interviews and on-site visits, the exit conference, the disposition letter, the firm's response and the staff's comments.

Luna Compliance is software, not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. Every entry links to the regulator's own copy; where they differ, theirs governs.