PANews January 2 news, Coinbase Vice President of Legal Ryan VanGrack pointed out that over 50% of the record fine amount imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) comes from a single case (the Terraform case, amounting to $4.4 billion), but this fine is unlikely to be recovered. He further criticized that focusing on enforcement statistics may lead to misincentives and cause misunderstandings. In contrast, more attention should be paid to the amount returned to harmed investors, with the historical record in this area set in 2019 ($1.2 billion).
(The Wall Street Journal) recently reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is facing significant challenges regarding uncollected fines, with the total amount of uncollected fines currently reaching $10 billion. The report indicated that although the SEC has raised fine amounts in recent years due to political pressure, the actual funds recovered are far lower than the amounts indicated in cases. One typical case is that of former corporate raider Paul Bilzerian. He was ordered to pay $62 million for securities fraud, but the SEC has failed to successfully recover this fine for 31 years. During this time, Bilzerian filed for bankruptcy twice and moved to Saint Kitts and Nevis to evade payment. This fine, along with interest, has now grown to $180 million. The article also mentioned that this issue of uncollected fines highlights the SEC's limitations in enforcement and fund recovery, raising questions about its enforcement effectiveness.