The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached a new record for penalties and fines in the fiscal year 2024, mainly due to a significant settlement with crypto firm Terraform Labs. The agency collected $8.2 billion in financial remedies for the year ending September 30, which is “the highest amount in SEC history,” according to its November 22 annual report.
This achievement was made despite a 26% decrease in cases from last year, with only 583 cases. Over half of the total came from the SEC’s court win against Terraform and its former CEO, who paid a $4.47 billion settlement after being found liable for fraud over its blockchain ecosystem’s collapse in 2022, which wiped out billions of dollars.
Without Terraform’s fine, the SEC would have collected $3.72 billion, which would have been its worst year for financial remedies since 2013 when it collected $3.4 billion in fines and penalties. The SEC’s total fines and penalties for 2024 increased by 65.5% from 2023. In total, the agency collected $2.1 billion in penalties and a record $6.1 billion in disgorgement, which is the return of illicit profits to harmed investors.
Outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement, “The Division of Enforcement is a steadfast cop on the beat, following the facts and the law wherever they lead to hold wrongdoers accountable.”
Gensler’s record year marks the end of his nearly four-year tenure, as he will resign on January 20, 2025, the same day President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in.
The SEC has taken a hard line against crypto companies under Gensler’s leadership, with the number of its crypto-related enforcement actions peaking last year at 46. However, the number of cases dropped to 11 in 2024. Despite this decrease, fines related to the SEC’s crypto actions increased over 3,000% due to Terraform’s settlement.
The US crypto industry is hoping the SEC’s crackdown will end as Trump promised to ease regulatory enforcement on the crypto space. Pantera chief legal officer Katrina Paglia expects the SEC’s multiple crypto lawsuits to “quietly go away” as Trump begins his second and final term.
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<p>The post Breaking Records: Crypto Firm’s Settlement Boosts SEC’s Fines to All-Time High first appeared on CoinBuzzFeed.</p>
