Welcome to SEC Roundup, a bimonthly video sequence by former Securities and Trade Fee senior trial counsels Nick Morgan and Tom Zaccaro, founders of the nonprofit advocacy group Investor Alternative Advocates Community.
The SEC’s enforcement exercise has slowed to a crawl. Within the first half of fiscal 12 months 2025, the SEC filed 362 instances. Within the second half? Solely 144. The everyday September surge of 200-plus enforcement actions to shut out the fiscal 12 months was a mere 47.
Why the “unprecedented slowdown”? Hosts Morgan and Zaccaro are joined by Dr. Jan Jindra and Dr. Adrienna Huffman, two former SEC monetary economists now with the Brattle Group. They dive into their new report, which analyzes the numbers behind the dramatic coverage shift from the Gensler-led Fee to the brand new Atkins administration.
Collectively, they break down:
- The “Unprecedented” Knowledge: Simply how sharp the drop in enforcement has been, notably within the second half of the fiscal 12 months.
- The Finish of “Regulation by Enforcement”: Why headline-grabbing instances associated to crypto, “shadow buying and selling,” and increasing the “securities seller” definition have vanished from the docket.
- The “Return to Fundamentals”: The group’s prediction that the SEC’s new focus might be on people, felony (DOJ) parallel actions, and returning cash to harmed traders reasonably than on record-breaking company penalties.
- The “Atkins Impact”: How the brand new administration’s philosophy, mixed with vital employees reductions and a authorities shutdown, is resulting in a brand new period of enforcement.
- A New Decision Path: Is the SEC now favoring cooperation, remediation, and self-reporting to resolve instances with out a formal enforcement motion?
See the video for the dialogue.