Sarah Bessin, assistant director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, told the audience that the agency's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations is aware of the "areas of uncertainty."

Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, said earlier in the conference, in keynote remarks, that his staff is "working hard" to clarify the issues. The agency will post answers to frequently asked questions on a rolling basis on its Web site, he said, but didn't specify a date.

Advisors, in the meantime, should do their best to reasonably comply with the spirit of the rules and document their efforts, said Pisarri.

Still, some advisors said the SEC was asking too much before it provided enough answers. One advisor said she wasn't aware until the panel presentation that she now must print instructions on client statements informing them to compare that information with the statements sent by the custodian.

Some lawyers say forging ahead is still the best approach.

"We'll be walking through the mist for a while," Stephanie Monaco, a Washington, D.C.-based regulatory lawyer told Dow Jones Newswires. "The fact that the March 12 date has triggered shouldn't matter."

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