We are in the fourth full day of the administration of the 45^th President. During the campaign he made a lot of promises. One was to reduce regulation. There were not a lot of specifics, but his nominations for cabinet positions would indicate that regulatory reduction is on the way.

How is the reduction in regulation going to impact your legal practice? Are you making plans to alter your practice?

I want to open a conversation with this post. My area of specialization focuses on broker-dealers, investment advisers and institutional investors. Based upon my background I have a reputation for providing regulatory and compliance advise.

In my practice that involves all aspects of the business of my clients because the regulations cover a broad swath of what my clients do. I spend time helping them become compliant as they start their business and help them as they expand. What if all of the regulations go away?

Businesses will certainly want to enter into contractual relationships that protect them from risks, so I will still need to draft agreements. There will still be disputes with customers and vendors that will need to be resolved.

However, gone could be the regulatory examinations and enforcement investigations. Given the Federal hiring freeze that was mandated yesterday by Executive Order, we will probably see a slowing of regulatory inquiry during the course of this year.

Also gone could be the rules and regulations that govern how trades are conducted, how money is raised, what disclosures are required from public companies.

Now there are still self-regulatory agencies and states that have rules and regulations that govern these activities. However, many of their rules and regulations are based upon the Federal Securities laws.

So where are we headed? I am not going to walk away from my practice but I do believe I will need to be flexible as we move into this new unregulated era.

What are your thoughts?

© 2017 Sharon M. Davison