U.S. SEC Regulation S-P: Compliance Deadline Approaching for Smaller Entities

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued amendments to Regulation S-P: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information and Safeguarding Customer Information, which became effective on August 2, 2024 (the Final Amendments). For smaller entities, including registered investment advisers with less than $1.5 billion in assets under management, as well as certain broker-dealers and other SEC-regulated entities, the compliance deadline is June 3, 2026. The compliance deadline for larger entities was December 3, 2025. For a full list of entities required to comply, please see June 4, 2024 Sidley Update.

Regulation S-P sets forth requirements around the treatment of nonpublic personal information about consumers. The Final Amendments amend Regulation S-P requirements as they relate to “customer information” of “covered institutions.” Pursuant to the Final Amendments, “covered institution” generally is defined to include any brokers, dealers, investment companies, registered investment advisers, funding portals, and registered transfer agents as further specified in the regulation. The Final Amendments also address, among other things, the scope of written policies and procedures reasonably designed to safeguard customer information, incident response, notice of incidents involving sensitive customer information, service providers, recordkeeping, information disposal with regard to both customer information and “consumer information” as defined in the regulation, and annual privacy notices. The Final Amendments are complex and mandate a careful review of, and potentially significant updates to, existing policies and procedures for organizations otherwise subject to Regulation S-P.

Linked here is a high-level outline and checklist to guide you as a “final check” before the compliance deadline. This document serves merely as a guide and is not meant to be legal advice or a replacement for legal advice. Sidley’s Privacy and Cybersecurity and Securities Enforcement and Regulatory teams can assist you on an expedited basis with any questions you may have related to the Final Amendments, including assisting you with developing a compliance and risk management program or updating components of any existing program, to address the requirements of Regulation S-P and the Final Amendments.