The March study, required by the Dodd-Frank Act, called for the SEC to employ a “disciplined and transparent cascading process” to systemically redesign the organization, to improve agency technological capabilities and to enhance Commission engagement with the SROs.
According to the staff report, the SEC has made significant strides in developing the necessary program management and oversight infrastructure. However, the agency sees several significant obstacles.
The staff stated that the consultant’s recommended changes could cost as much as $55 million. "Both the resource constraints and time demands pose tremendous challenges,” said the staff report. Without adequate funding the agency may not be able to realize significant operational efficiencies. There could also be a risk that the potential pull on management and staff time would detract from core mission-critical activities.
The report stated that since March, the agency has:
(1) designated SEC Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Heslop as the Executive Sponsor for the agency-wide effort to analyze and recommend implementation approaches in response to the BCG study recommendations;
(2) established workstreams and named workstream leads. The separate workstreams will permit further analysis and recommendations for action;
(3 )created an executive steering committee to provide oversight, integration and initial decision making across all workstreams;
(4) established a program management office responsible for deploying program management processes and analysis support infrastructure; and
(5) organized a mission advancement program to improve the structure of organizational operating units, improve controls and efficiency and enhance the agency workforce.