Scuttlebutt is the Trump Administration may weaken the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed investment advisor business continuity rule to guidance, Wall Street securities lawyer Kay Gordon said in a panel on the final day of the Investment Adviser Association Compliance Conference Friday.

Gordon, an attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath, added the transition planning directive that was part of the proposal may go away completely.

SEC Investment Management Division Rule Making Senior Counsel Andrea Ottomanelli Magovern, who helped develop the rules, acknowledged a Trump team at the SEC could significantly alter what is to come for business continuity and transition responsibilities for advisors.

The proposal, sent out by the SEC in June for public comment, would require an advisor to try to minimize disruptions for customers in cyber attacks, natural disasters, the departure of key personnel, and the rending of the business through protections ranging from maintenance of systems and protection of data to pre-arranged alternative physical locations to disaster communication plans.

Magovern said “alternative physical locations” would not mean advisors would have to have other buildings. She noted working at home would be acceptable in many instances, but cautioned it would be wise to have home back-ups, such as portable generators, in case a natural disaster struck that cut off power in an area for offices and residences alike.

The attorney said the SEC is thinking about reworking the section of the proposal that requires advisors to keep records on continuity plans for five years.

Magovern said the detailed continuity proposal was developed, in part, in reaction to complaints from Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations examiners that existing advisor continuity plans vary widely in strength and depth.

The panel at the IAA conference agreed uniformly if the proposal is adopted, smaller firms with less in-house experts would have the most work to do to obey it.

J.P. Morgan Investment Management Chief Compliance Officer Mark Egert said a J.P. Morgan working group convened soon after the compliance proposal was released determined its impact would be small on the firm.