The Securities and Exchange Commission filed 807 enforcement actions in fiscal 2015 — with a record 507 involving independent violations of the federal securities laws — and obtained orders totaling approximately $4.2 billion in disgorgement and penalties, the agency said Thursday.
The 807 actions is a 23% jump from the 755 enforcement actions the agency filed in 2014; The agency ordered only slightly lower monetary penalities of $4.16 billion than those levied in fiscal 2015, which ended Sept. 30.
In 2015, 300 of the actions filed involved issuers who were delinquent in making required filings with the SEC or administrative proceedings seeking bars against individuals based on criminal convictions, civil injunctions or other orders. In 2014, 342 such actions were taken.
Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's director of enforcement, noted on a call with reporters that the agency "is not slowing down," adding that the SEC uncovered "significant misconduct during the past fiscal year, and helped bring a significant number of high-impact, first-of-their-kind actions."
The agency will release its full enforcement results in its annual report, which is due out in November.
