The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a total of $3.79 billion in penalties and assets returned to investors through enforcement actions in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the SEC's fiscal year, the agency said Wednesday.
The total was down from the $4 billion the agency obtained in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2016, though the $1.07 billion returned to harmed investors, or disgorgements, in the latest period was a record high, the SEC said in a news release.
The agency had 754 enforcement actions in fiscal 2017, down from a record 868 in the previous period.
Investment advisory issues, securities offerings, and issuer reporting or accounting and auditing rule violations each made up 20% of the fiscal 2017 stand-alone enforcement actions. About 10% each related to market manipulation, insider trading and broker-dealer rule violations.
