Former Chair Gary Gensler was perhaps the most aggressive leader in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s history. For businesses and executives facing enforcement scrutiny, investigations were often invasive and difficult to shake, even in the absence of any wrongdoing, and the SEC filed boundary-pushing cases in federal court.

As new SEC leaders begin to make their mark, the regulatory picture looks much different. Procedural reforms mean that frontline SEC lawyers will have less discretion to pursue investigations unless agency leaders are on board. Skepticism toward corporate penalties—seen as unfairly penalizing shareholders—means that it will be less common for public companies to face big fines. And aggressive disclosure theories—around cybersecurity, executive compensation, and internal controls—will be decidedly out of vogue.

Significant risk remains, however, for businesses and their leaders. To use a term of art, “regulators gonna regulate.” For some companies, officers, and directors, this will still mean disruptive, intrusive, and expensive investigations. A lighter regulatory burden gives companies welcome room to breathe—and it would be wise to use some of this room to ensure that you have a robust compliance program.