SEC Levied Record Enforcement Penalties for Misconduct in 2022

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement penalties surged to a record in the government’s fiscal 2022, the agency said on Tuesday.

The SEC’s enforcement actions resulted in $6.4 billion in fines and money ordered to be reimbursed to investors, up from just $3.9 billion in 2021, according to an annual report.

“We don’t expect to break these records and set new ones each year because we expect behaviors to change. We expect compliance,” SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

Cases in the past year included fines against major banks over the use of outside messaging services like WhatsApp to conduct official business. Another is a settlement with Boeing Co. for allegedly misleading investors about the safety of its 737 Max jets after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Read more: Wall Street Hit With $2 Billion of Fines in WhatsApp Probe

Also included was an action against crypto exchange BlockFi Lending LLC for failing to register its platform.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Lydia Beyoud in Washington at lbeyoud2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Ben Bain at bbain2@bloomberg.net

Stephanie Stoughton

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