SEC Filed 22% Fewer Enforcement Actions in 2025, Cites Shift Away From ‘Regulation by Enforcement’
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported a 22% decline in enforcement actions for fiscal year 2025 as Chairman Paul S. Atkins declared a break from what the agency now calls “regulation by enforcement,” shifting its focus toward cases involving direct investor harm.
“Over the past year, the commission has put a stop to regulation by enforcement and recentered its enforcement program on the commission’s core mission by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity,” said Chairman Atkins.
During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, the SEC filed 456 enforcement actions, a 22% decline from the previous year’s 583 enforcement actions. Of the 456, 303 were standalone actions, and 69 were follow-on administrative proceedings. In 2024, those totals were 431 and 93, representing declines of nearly 30% and 25.8%, respectively.
The commission obtained orders for $17.9 billion in total monetary relief, though officials offered important context on that figure.
The $17.9 billion total includes $10.8 billion in disgorgement and $7.2 billion in civil penalties. After excluding “deemed satisfied” amounts – such as restitution in parallel criminal cases – and judgments from long-running litigation, including the $8 billion Robert Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme case, the fiscal year total for new actions was $2.7 billion: $1.4 billion in disgorgement and $1.3 billion in civil penalties.
In 2025, the SEC awarded approximately $60 million to 48 individual whistleblowers. Additionally, approximately $262 million was returned to harmed investors during the period.
During the year, the agency received a record 53,753 tips, complaints, and referrals, a 19% increase over the previous year.
A Change in Philosophy
The 2025 results reflect a period of transition following a change in the SEC’s leadership from Gary Gensler to Atkins. Chairman Atkins and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda emphasized that the current commission is deliberately moving away from the “volume-based” approach of the prior administration.
The SEC, alongside some U.S. industry trade groups, has criticized previous enforcement efforts focused on off-channel communications – book-and-record violations – and certain crypto-related registration cases. Since 2022, those actions accounted for 95 cases and $2.3 billion in penalties. Current SEC leadership argues the cases identified no direct investor harm and represented a “misallocation of commission resources” aimed at generating media headlines rather than protecting the public.
The commission has established three priorities for its enforcement mandate: targeting fraud and misconduct that inflicts the greatest harm; addressing violations through measured legal responses; and prioritizing recovery of funds for investors who have suffered financial losses.
“We have redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm—particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust—and away from approaches that prioritized volume and record-setting penalties over true investor protection,” said Chairman Atkins.
The 2025 results specifically highlight actions taken to protect retail investors. The commission’s Division of Enforcement devoted significant resources to cases where fraudsters targeted specific groups, including veterans, seniors, and members of religious communities.
The SEC also highlighted September 2025 activity where it charged Daryl F. Heller and his two companies, Prestige Investment Group LLC and Paramount Management Group LLC, with operating a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded approximately 2,700 retail investors out of an estimated $400 million.
The commission also noted that it is increasingly favoring resolutions for market participants who self-report violations or cooperate meaningfully with investigations, in some cases offering reduced penalties or declining to bring enforcement actions altogether to promote a culture of compliance.
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