The Securities and Exchange Commission today provided its enforcement results for the past fiscal year which ended September 30. Throughout the fiscal year, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement remained focused on its fundamental responsibility: protecting investors, holding wrongdoers accountable, and safeguarding the integrity of the U.S. capital markets. The Division is also continuing to modernize its organization, processes, and technology, and launched several new initiatives in 2026 that will ensure the Division’s effectiveness in the years to come.
Impactful Enforcement
Enforcement actions filed in fiscal year 2026 demonstrate the Division’s continued commitment to rigorous, effective enforcement that focuses on serious and consequential violations of the federal securities laws-including fraud, market manipulation, insider trading, failures and misconduct by gatekeepers, and violations that compromise the integrity of disclosures and financial reporting. The cases emphasize the nature and severity of misconduct, magnitude of investor harm, and pursuit of meaningful remedies. Two-thirds of all standalone enforcement actions filed in fiscal year 2026 included charges against at least one individual, reflecting the Division’s continued commitment to maximizing deterrence and holding wrongdoers accountable.
In fiscal year 2026, the Commission filed 348 enforcement actions, including 235 standalone actions and 113 “follow-on” administrative proceedings that sought to bar or suspend individuals from participating in certain securities markets activities based on criminal convictions, civil injunctions, or other qualifying orders. The Commission also instituted 13 trading suspensions in response to suspected manipulation involving the securities of Asia-based issuers.
In addition, the Commission obtained orders for monetary relief totaling $1.095 billion, comprised of $752 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and $343 million in civil penalties, with $235 million of the disgorgement ordered deemed satisfied by a court in a separate non-SEC action. The SEC also returned approximately $731 million to more than 250,000 harmed investors.
“The success of the SEC’s enforcement program is ultimately measured by how effectively it advances the SEC’s mission, protects investors, holds wrongdoers accountable, and strengthens confidence in our markets,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “Enforcement actions and financial remedies are important measures of activity, but they are not the only or most telling measures. Our responsibility is to apply the law fairly and consistently and ensure that our enforcement efforts advance the Commission’s mission. I commend the staff for their dedication to an effective, disciplined enforcement program that serves the investing public.”
“Our focus is on conducting rigorous investigations, pursuing consequential misconduct, and achieving meaningful outcomes for investors,” said David Woodcock, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “During the fiscal year, we reviewed our investigative docket, strengthened our investigative capabilities, and launched several new initiatives that will position the Division even more strongly for the future. These efforts have resulted in an enforcement program that is more focused, effective, and prepared to address both longstanding and emerging threats to our markets.”
Positioning the Division of Enforcement for the Future
In fiscal year 2026, the Division worked to modernize its organization and processes to increase its investigative and litigation capacity, address evolving market risks, and deliver more timely, impactful outcomes to ensure the Division’s effectiveness in the years to come. The Division also invested in its leadership ranks with a new leadership training program for supervisors. And with targeted hiring across key skill areas, the Division hired attorneys, accountants, technologists, and data specialists to deepen the Division’s bench expertise and accelerate its critical investigative work.
Organizational Enhancements
In fiscal year 2026, the Division made significant organizational enhancements.
The Division formed the Retail Fraud Working Group (RFWG) to strengthen its ability to identify and address fraudulent schemes-including Ponzi schemes and offering frauds, impersonation scams, broker-dealer misconduct, false and fraudulent filings, and market manipulation schemes-and other misconduct that pose significant risks to everyday investors. Drawing on the expertise of attorneys across the Division, the RFWG employs targeted, data-driven strategies, including Super Intelligence (SI) and the analysis of information from multiple regulatory and law enforcement sources, to uncover potential violations and generate investigative leads for referral throughout the Division. In fiscal year 2026, the RFWG reviewed numerous tips and complaints, generated referrals involving suspected fraud and other violations affecting retail investors, and undertook extensive outreach involving other regulators, industry participants, and investors. Already, more than a dozen new investigations have resulted from the RFWG’s efforts.
In addition, the Division expanded its capacity to address complex accounting and financial reporting fraud schemes as well as other misconduct involving accountants and auditors with a new Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit (FRAU) . FRAU combines the skills of attorneys and accountants with deep expertise in accounting standards, issuer disclosures, internal accounting controls, books and records requirements, and auditor responsibilities. This concentration of expertise strengthens the Division’s ability to detect patterns of financial misconduct, promotes a disciplined and consistent approach to evaluating potential violations, and ensures technically rigorous enforcement recommendations. Already, FRAU is improving the Division’s effectiveness by identifying problems earlier in the reporting cycle, building stronger and more analytically precise cases, and accelerating the timeline for delivering meaningful protections for investors. These early returns underscore FRAU’s role as a cornerstone of the Division’s efforts to modernize the enforcement program and an enhanced safeguard for the integrity of the financial reporting ecosystem.
Complementing these enhancements, the Division launched the Office of Super Intelligence and Analytics, a dedicated office designed to bring advanced analytical capability directly into investigative workflows, “force-multiply” resources, and strengthen the Division’s overall capacity to protect investors. The office uses data‑driven techniques and SI tools to identify patterns of misconduct earlier, improve investigative efficiency, and detect emerging threats across markets. Its work includes SI‑enabled anomaly detection, accelerated document and transcript review, and improved blockchain and financial‑flow analysis. The office better positions the Division to address rapidly evolving threats, especially in fraud, cyber, and SI-enabled manipulation schemes
The Division also reorganized its Trial Unit to enhance consistency across the Division’s litigation docket and expand the Division’s overall litigation capacity. Following the reorganization, the Chief Litigation Counsel supervises newly created Deputy Chief Litigation Counsels, who oversee the Division’s litigation attorneys across all the Commission’s offices. The Division also improved the Trial Unit’s case management processes to improve its ability to oversee cases filed across the country.
Investing in Division Leadership
During fiscal year 2026, the Division invested in its leadership ranks by launching a formal leadership training program for new and experienced supervisors. This program, which will continue beyond the fiscal year, is helping the Division build a deep and capable bench of leaders and preparing its next generation of leadership for success in the years to come.
The Division also instituted a new performance-management process in which Senior Officers participate in bi‑monthly meetings with senior leadership to discuss investigation timelines, milestones, and staffing levels. This process ensures that the Division identifies risks early and completes investigative milestones in a timely and efficient manner, thus achieving meaningful investor protection.
Strengthening Interagency Coordination
The Commission strengthened its reach over the past year through memoranda of understanding (MOU) with key partners. The Commission entered into an MOU with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that deepens collaboration on enforcement matters involving market integrity and complex financial products, enabling more efficient information‑sharing and joint oversight of misconduct spanning across the securities and derivatives markets. Additionally, the Commission entered into an MOU with the Food and Drug Administration that enhances coordination in monitoring disclosures and compliance issues affecting life‑sciences companies, and reinforces safeguards where securities law intersects with product‑regulatory obligations. The Division also continued its historic close coordination with the PCAOB, ensuring auditor misconduct and audit failures are identified and addressed swiftly and efficiently.
The Division filed numerous enforcement actions in parallel with criminal authorities in fiscal year 2026, seeking complementary relief such as targeted injunctions, asset freezes, and associational bars. The Division also worked closely with overseas regulators and law enforcement in multi‑jurisdictional fraud matters, reflecting the global nature of emerging schemes.
Updated Enforcement Manual
The Division made significant updates to the Enforcement Manual for the first time since 2017. Notably, the updates standardize the Wells process, adding transparency, consistency, and clarity to this important part of the enforcement program; allow simultaneous Commission consideration of settlement recommendations and related waiver requests; and explain the Division’s framework for evaluating cooperation, including the impact of cooperation on civil penalties. As announced, the Division will review the Manual on an annual basis going forward to keep its processes current, fair, and effective.
Rescission of Rule 202.5(e)
The Commission rescinded Rule 202.5(e) of its informal rules of procedures, which provided that the Commission would not settle an enforcement action in which a sanction is imposed unless the defendant or respondent also agreed not to publicly deny the allegations in the complaint or administrative order. Among other things, rescinding Rule 202.5(e) aligned the Commission with the overwhelming majority of federal agencies that do not have a similar rule and provided the SEC more flexibility in settling enforcement actions, which conserves resources, provides certainty, and potentially expedites the return of money to injured investors.
Noteworthy Enforcement Actions
Vigorous Pursuit of Cross-Border Fraud
The Division took decisive action to disrupt foreign bad actors targeting U.S. markets and investors. This work built off the momentum of the Commission launching, in September 2025, the Cross‑Border Task Force , a dedicated enforcement group that protects U.S. investors from transnational bad actors.
In a host of enforcement actions brought in November 2025 and August 2026 , the Commission charged a total of 42 entities in the District of Colorado, two entities in the Southern District of New York, and an entity in the Northern District of New York , for allegedly filing false Forms ADV to feign legitimacy as U.S. advisers and lure retail investors. Several of these entities appeared to be located overseas, as alleged.
The SEC brought charges against three purported crypto asset trading platforms and four investment clubs for allegedly defrauding retail investors of at least $14 million and funneling those funds overseas in an investment confidence scam that involved soliciting investors through social media using investment tips supposedly generated by SI. The SEC also charged multiple entities , likely operated by individuals overseas, for allegedly defrauding hundreds of retail investors through investment confidence scams on online platforms. The Commission instituted cease-and-desist proceedings against a foreign-based issuer that, according to the order, engaged in sham transactions concerning certain online advertising and marketing that materially overstated its net revenues.
The SEC also instituted 13 trading suspensions to protect U.S. investors from harm arising out of suspected manipulation in the securities of Asia-based issuers. The trading suspensions involved potential manipulation designed to artificially inflate the price and trading volume of the securities, mostly using social media.
Combating Harm to Retail Investors
Throughout the fiscal year, the Division concentrated resources on matters that cause real harm to retail investors, including offering frauds, Ponzi schemes, and emerging technology scams.
For example, in fiscal year 2026, the Commission charged:
- Goliath Ventures, Inc. and its founder and CEO for allegedly operating a multi-year Ponzi scheme that raised at least $425 million from over 1,300 investors;
- A founder and his two New Jersey-based companies for allegedly conducting a Ponzi scheme which raised approximately $16 million from more than 200 inexperienced investors, primarily targeting Christians of Ghanaian heritage in New York and New Jersey;
- AKL Transport LLC, Southern Truck Leasing LLC, and their founder in an alleged Ponzi scheme that raised at least $127 million from approximately 765 investors nationwide. Approximately $33 million of investor funds were allegedly misappropriated for personal use;
- The founder and CEO of a bitcoin mining business , for allegedly raising over $95.6 million from approximately 6,400 investors through a fraud scheme, and misappropriating $48.5 million of investor funds;
- Three individuals for their roles in an alleged affinity fraud that raised approximately $47 million from more than 87 investors, primarily members of Orthodox Jewish communities in New Jersey and New York.
Over the past year, the Division intensified its investor-protection efforts in the pre‑IPO secondary market. As investors obtain greater access to private markets, the risk of harm posed by fraudsters and other bad actors in those markets grows as well. In line with this focus, the Commission charged: private fund adviser, Adit Ventures Management, its CEO, and affiliated general partners for allegedly defrauding investors and client funds in connection with investments in pre-IPO shares, including by misappropriating advisory client assets and charging millions in undisclosed fees; private fund adviser, Meyer Global Management, and its CEO for allegedly defrauding investors and client funds in connection with investments in SpaceX and other pre-IPO securities; and boiler room operator, Andrew Spaventa, and three of his entities in an alleged fraud scheme that purportedly offered retail investors an opportunity to invest in shares of pre-IPO private companies while charging hidden fees. In a settled order, the Commission found that a California resident allegedly defrauded investors in a private fund that invested in pre-IPO shares of Palantir Technologies, Inc.
Reinforcing Critical Investor Protection Guardrails
The Commission also brought enforcement actions to reinforce critical investor-protection guardrails, which strengthen compliance by holding market participants accountable for failing to meet their obligations, increase the likelihood that fraud and other misconduct is detected early, and provide meaningful deterrence to would-be bad actors from violating the law. These actions involved the Custody Rule, Regulation Best Interest, privacy and identity‑protection breaches, Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and Bank Secrecy Act obligations, and blue sheet compliance. These guardrails strengthen deterrence, enable early detection of misconduct, and support effective market oversight.
Among other enforcement actions, the Commission instituted settled orders against: