SEC says it imposed more than $1 billion in sanctions in fiscal 2008
The agency is facing congressional questions over its vigilance in policing Wall Street and corporate fraud.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, facing congressional questions over its vigilance in policing Wall Street and corporate fraud, said Monday that it im- posed more than $1 billion in sanctions in the last fiscal year.
Fines and orders extracting ill-gotten profits surpassed that amount in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, the SEC said in an annual report, without giving specific figures.
The agency imposed $1.6 billion in sanctions a year earlier, and more than $3 billion in each of the three previous years.
SEC spokesman John Heine said the agency was still preparing a precise breakdown of fines and disgorgements.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and committee member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked the Government Accountability Office this year to examine whether SEC investigators had adequate enforcement resources after sanctions declined 51% in fiscal 2007.
Figures for 2008 may come under scrutiny in that review. The agency previously said it brought the second-highest number of cases in its history that year.
The year's SEC tally doesn't include preliminary settlements with banks such as Citigroup Inc. and UBS for sales of auction-rate securities before the market's collapse in February.
The accords, reached in tandem with states including New York and Massachusetts, are the largest in the agency's history, returning more than $50 billion to investors.
