The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has newly added AI superintelligence and tokenisation to its examination priorities for fiscal 2027, widening the scope of checks on new-technology risks in capital markets.

According to blockchain media outlet Decrypt on Oct. 23 local time, the SEC’s Division of Examinations, in releasing its fiscal 2027 priorities, included “superintelligence and other advanced technologies that could affect market operations, compliance, fraud prevention, and investor protection” as formal examination items.

The core of the change is a shift in how it views AI. Previously, the main focus was the use of AI as a work tool adopted by investment advisers. The new wording treats AI as a factor that could affect the broader market. The SEC placed it in the “emerging technologies” category and made clear it will examine how AI tools used by registered entities affect compliance programmes and fraud detection systems.

Tokenisation was also added as a separate item. In the market infrastructure area, the Division of Examinations listed as priorities “risks related to evolving market infrastructure, including U.S. Treasury clearing reform, tokenisation, and related developments.” As a result, broker-dealers, investment advisers and transfer agents that have expanded tokenised product offerings are more likely to have their overall compliance systems reviewed in actual examinations, beyond the policy discussion stage.

The priorities apply to more than 34,000 registered entities overseen by the SEC’s Division of Examinations. The covered entities include investment advisers, investment companies, broker-dealers, clearing agencies and transfer agents. The SEC also specified that the list does not limit all matters subject to review. Examiners may, at their discretion, review a broad range of issues related to compliance with federal securities laws.

Director Keith Cassidy (키스 캐시디) described the direction as a response aligned with changes in the market environment. In SEC materials, he said, “Our approach allows us to adapt to changing market conditions, identify evolving risk patterns, respond to emerging threats, and anticipate areas where investors and markets may become vulnerable.”

The adjustment follows recent changes in its supervisory stance. In the fiscal 2026 examination priorities released in November 2025, the SEC removed cryptocurrency as a standalone item for the first time since 2021. At the time, it was taken as a signal that the SEC under Paul Atkins was stepping back from the strong enforcement stance of the Gary Gensler era.

The fiscal 2027 document did not restore cryptocurrency as a separate item. Instead, it incorporated AI risks and tokenisation into examination priorities, two technology trends that have had a major impact on capital market activity over the past year. Rather than grouping cryptocurrency overall again as an independent regulatory target, it amounts to shifting the focus of supervision toward technology factors that affect actual market infrastructure and operations.

In this situation, the points to watch for the industry are twofold. One is the standards by which AI use will be evaluated in internal controls and fraud detection systems. The other is how sophisticated financial firms handling tokenised products are in compliance programmes, operating procedures and investor protection safeguards, beyond the products themselves. As the SEC has specified the two items in its examination priorities, future on-site examinations are more likely to focus on the impact of the technologies on markets and investor protection than on whether the technologies have been adopted.