A decade ago, legal and compliance issues were the top operational-side priority for most private fund firms. Wide-ranging interviews with leading industry participants, surveys of COOs and other anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that may not be the case today. And it seems the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – with its recent risk alert and added expertise – may be taking notice.

Over the course of the next few week, I’ll add a series of posts that focus on the state of the legal and compliance function. The posts will take a brief look at some key moments over the past two decades that impacted the role of legal and compliance, discuss how the SEC might be refocusing its efforts to oversee the private fund industry, and add some observations on what it all could mean.

Please feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section for each of the posts.