On April 23, 2025, RIA Biz interviewed Adrienne Gurley for a Q&A on changes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering, namely giving more oversight to state regulators. According to the article, the SEC’s acting commissioner, Mark Uyeda, said that “smaller” RIAs may no longer be overseen by the federal government and will instead be under the purview of state regulators.
When asked about potential consequences of shifting regulatory power to states, Gurley explained: “If there were a change in the AUM threshold, in theory, firms that are present in different states would suffer in that they no longer have the benefit of a uniform set of regulations to abide by.”
“Some states are stricter, while others may not have the same need for aggressive oversight,” she added. “Nonetheless, such a change could potentially lead to confusion and would certainly require firms to expend resources on this front to make sure their compliance efforts are in line with each state’s requirements.”
Gurley also touched on the implications that smaller RIAs could encounter. “Firms and investors both benefit from uniformity in regulation,” said Gurley. “Uniformity helps avoid confusion and promotes clarity in what everyone should expect. The challenge for smaller firms might be a complexity in compliance efforts.”
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