Michael Kelly, Douglas Paul, and Sarah Wang wrote an article for Bloomberg Law analyzing the Security and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement annual report, which elaborates on the agency’s enforcement efforts over the last fiscal year and provides clues about where the SEC’s enforcement efforts may be focused in 2020.
They explained, “The SEC has sought to improve its coordination with other law enforcement authorities, accelerate the pace of its investigations, and persuade companies and whistleblowers that it is willing to give meaningful credit for cooperation.”
The authors elaborated, “The majority of the SEC’s 526 standalone cases concerned investment advisory/investment company issues (36%), securities offerings (21%), and issuer reporting/accounting and auditing (17%) matters. The SEC also brought cases concerning broker-dealers (7%), insider trading (6%), market manipulation (6%), FCPA violations (3%), and public finance (3%).”