SEC enforcement actions decreased by 24 percent in fiscal year 2026

The U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) shared with the public its enforcement results for fiscal year 2026, covering the period from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. Accordingly, the number of enforcement actions initiated by the commission dropped by 24 percent compared to the previous year, falling to 348.

The SEC carried out a total of 348 enforcement actions during the 2026 fiscal period, comprising 235 independent lawsuits and 113 follow-on administrative proceedings. In the previous fiscal year, this figure had been recorded as 456. The total amount of financial penalties ordered by the commission in the specified period stood at approximately $1.1 billion. While $752 million of this amount consisted of disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, $343 million came from civil monetary penalties.

The commission distributed approximately $731 million in distributions to more than 250,000 injured investors. In fiscal year 2025, the SEC had imposed a total of $17.9 billion in financial penalties and other remedies, partly driven by the final judgment in a Ponzi scheme case. SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that enforcement actions and financial remedies are important indicators for commission activities, but they do not possess the quality of being single or most definitive metrics.