On June 2, 2026, the SEC published a Draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 intended to refocus the agency on its core statutory mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. The draft plan identifies three overarching goals designed to advance that mandate: (1) renew the agency’s regulatory policy focus to support innovation, capital formation, market efficiency and investor protection, (2) shift the agency’s regulatory practices to increase stakeholder engagement, facilitate compliance efforts of market participants and effectively return the agency’s enforcement approach to Congress’ original intent, and (3) optimize the agency’s operational efficiency by enhancing its organizational structure, modernizing its technology, and fostering employee performance and accountability.
The draft plan contemplates a regulatory policy that promotes clear, fit-for-purpose rules that support innovation and market efficiency, reduce regulatory uncertainty and balance compliance costs with maintaining robust investor protections and market integrity. The plan emphasizes the importance of modernizing the regulatory framework to account for evolving market developments, including digital assets, distributed ledger technologies and alternative trading platforms. The plan also seeks to create a regulatory environment in which entrepreneurs and small businesses can thrive, including by modernizing and simplifying disclosure practices, expanding access to private markets and enabling new capital-raising pathways.
The draft plan prioritizes increased engagement with market participants, noting that engagement helps the agency stay informed about market developments, provides insight into the impact of the agency’s rules and supports the development of regulatory guidance. The plan also promotes a principled enforcement approach that ensures fairness and due process and provides predictability, with a focus on clear violations of law, particularly those involving fraud, deception and market manipulation. The plan further provides for a periodic retrospective review of existing rules to assess their continued effectiveness and relevance, as well as a periodic review of the agency’s administrative procedures.
Finally, the draft plan calls for internal reforms to streamline the agency’s organizational structure, improve cross-divisional collaboration and align resources with strategic priorities. The plan also calls for technology modernization at the agency, including a review of legacy systems (such as EDGAR) and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The plan also identifies the need for reforms to performance management systems and internal performance reporting to cultivate a high-performance, results-driven workplace culture at the agency.
