The United States Securities and Exchange Commission hit a new record for penalties and fines from its enforcement actions in the fiscal year 2024 — due mainly to a massive settlement with crypto firm Terraform Labs.
The agency net $8.2 billion in financial remedies for the year ending Sept. 30 — “the highest amount in SEC history,” it said in its Nov. 22 annual report — despite the number of cases declining 26% from last year to 583.
Over half of the total came from the SEC’s court win against Terraform and former CEO Do Kwon, who paid a $4.47 billion settlement after being found liable for fraud over its blockchain ecosystem’s collapse in 2022 that wiped 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 jumped by 65.5% from 2023. Source: SEC
In all, the agency collected $2.1 billion in penalties and a record $6.1 billion in disgorgement — the return of illicit profits to harmed investors.
“The Division of Enforcement is a steadfast cop on the beat, following the facts and the law wherever they lead to hold wrongdoers accountable,” outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.
The record year caps Gensler’s nearly four-year tenure, as he will resign on Jan. 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, with the number of its crypto-related enforcement actions peaking last year at 46.
Its crypto cases dropped to 11 in 2024, but fines related to the SEC’s crypto action shot up 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 space. Pantera chief legal officer Katrina Paglia said last week she expects the SEC’s multiple crypto lawsuits will “quietly go away” as Trump starts his second and final term.
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