The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initiated 80 enforcement actions against public companies and subsidiaries in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 12% decline from the previous year but nearly 5% more than average for the previous nine years, according to Cornerstone Research and the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business.
Total monetary settlements grew to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2024, up from $1.3 billion the previous year but lower than the $1.8 billion average from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2023, according to a report the organizations released Thursday.
The report, SEC Enforcement Activity: Public Companies and Subsidiaries—Fiscal Year 2024 Update, analyzes information from the Securities Enforcement Empirical Database.
The SEC's fiscal 2024 enforcement priorities were evident in 38 actions that fell within five sweeps, most notably the sweep of recordkeeping failures stemming from companies' use of off-channel communications; that enforcement comprised 22 actions, according to Cornerstone, a financial consulting firm.
Actions involving broker-dealer allegations rose to 29% of all fiscal 2024 actions from 19% the previous fiscal year. The SEC also brought seven actions for violations of the whistleblower protection rule in fiscal 2024, up from three the previous year. Thirteen percent of actions involved investment advisors or investment companies.
"The SEC's FY 2024 enforcement actions reveal a focus on trends like off-channel communications and whistleblower protection," said report co-author Stephen Choi, law and business professor at NYU School of Law and Pollack Center co-director. "We also saw a focus on cooperation and non-monetary settlements, as the agency prioritized efficiency and cooperation in its enforcement approach."
