The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a record 755 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2014 that led to $4.16 billion in disgorgement and penalties, according to preliminary figures released by the agency Thursday.
That compares to 686 enforcement actions and orders totaling $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2013 and 734 enforcement actions and orders totaling $3.1 billion in fiscal year 2012.
Agency officials credited the results to new investigative approaches and greater use of data analytics, including an aberrational performance initiative that identifies hedge funds with suspicious returns.
The year also marked several first-ever cases, including against investment advisers for violating the pay-to-play rule, market access violations, whistleblower retaliation and an emergency halt of a municipal bond offering.
Enforcement division director Andrew Ceresney said in a statement that he looks “forward to another year filled with high-impact enforcement actions” across a broad spectrum of financial activity.
