In addition to all of its Dodd-Frank Act rulemaking, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission soon may be taking a fresh look at some of its existing regulations. 

In response to an Obama administration initiative, the SEC said today it is seeking comment on the process it plans to set up to review existing regulations. The SEC is acting in response to Executive Order 13579, which was signed by President Obama on July 11. The order said the SEC and other independent agencies should do a periodic review of existing “significant regulations,” and “should consider how best to promote retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been learned.”

This review won’t include regulations that have been proposed or still are being drafted. In its request for comment, the SEC said it seeks public input on the following issues: 

• What factors should the Commission consider in selecting and prioritizing rules for review?
• How often should the Commission review existing rules?
• Should different rules be reviewed at different intervals? If so, which categories of rules should be reviewed more or less frequently, and on what basis?
• To what extent does relevant data exist that the Commission should consider in selecting and prioritizing rules for review and in reviewing rules, and how should the Commission assess such data in these processes? To what extent should these processes include reviewing financial economic literature or conducting empirical studies? How can our review processes obtain and consider data and analyses that address the benefits of our rules in preventing fraud or other harms to our financial markets and in otherwise protecting investors?
• What can the Commission do to modify, streamline, or expand its regulatory review processes?
• How should the Commission improve public outreach and increase public participation in the rulemaking process?
• Is there any other information that the Commission should consider in developing and implementing a preliminary plan for retrospective review of regulations?

Comments on this regulatory review are due by Oct. 6.