SEC Filed 348 Enforcement Cases in Fiscal 2026, 45 Against Alleged Fake Advisers

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said yesterday (Tuesday) it filed 348 enforcement actions in fiscal 2026, down from 456 a year earlier. Its fiscal year ended on September 30.

A case list attached to the release shows that 45 of its 235 standalone actions targeted entities the SEC says filed false registration forms to pose as US investment advisers. The agency counted each entity as a separate action.

Without them, standalone actions fell 37% to 190 from 303, by FinanceMagnates.com's calculation. Counting each of the three litigation releases behind those cases as one action gives 306, close to the 308 that The Brattle Group estimated from SEC releases in October.

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The SEC brought the fake-adviser cases in two waves, six entities in November 2025 and 39 in August 2026, 42 of them in federal court in Colorado. It said several of the entities appeared to be based overseas.

Defendants on the list include Invesco Alpha Inc., Abrdn Canada Limited, LinkedIn Research Institute Ltd and Robin Markets Inc. The SEC said the false Forms ADV were filed "to feign legitimacy as U.S. advisers and lure retail investors."

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The agency listed them alongside other cross-border cases, including charges against three purported crypto platforms and four investment clubs that it said took at least $14 million from retail investors. It also suspended trading in 13 Asia-based issuers over suspected manipulation.

The retail fraud working group the SEC revived in July reviewed tips and complaints and generated referrals involving suspected fraud, the agency said, without giving numbers.

David Woodcock, director of the Division of Enforcement, said in a speech on Tuesday that "case counts declined this past year." He also said enforcement should not stand in for transparent rulemaking.

Broker-Dealer Cases Fell to 16

Outside the fake-adviser cases, the drop ran through most of the categories the SEC uses to sort its work. Standalone actions against broker-dealers fell to 16 from 39 in the agency's tables for fiscal 2025, a 59% decline.

Issuer reporting and audit cases fell to 23 from 36, and securities offering cases to 63 from 88. Cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act fell to zero from six.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in the release that case counts and money ordered matter, but "they are not the only or most telling measures."

Insider trading went the other way, with 38 standalone actions against 31. They included charges against 21 people over trading on information taken from law firms. Investment adviser cases rose to 79 from 72, but without the fake-adviser actions the category had 34.

That leaves insider trading as the only large category that grew once the 45 are set aside.

Penalties Fell to $343 Million

The SEC obtained orders for $1.095 billion in monetary relief: $752 million in disgorgement and interest and $343 million in civil penalties. A court deemed $235 million of the disgorgement satisfied in a separate, non-SEC action.

A year earlier, excluding a $5.9 billion penalty in the Stanford Ponzi case, penalties were $1.3 billion, so they fell 74%. One firm paid 29% of this year's figure: Western Asset Management's $100 million penalty over a cherry-picking scheme by its former co-chief investment officer.

UBS Financial Services added $20 million in a case over late suspicious activity reports. The two firms paid 35% of the total.

For scale, national authorities in the EU reported EUR 36.6 million (about $41 million) in fines under broker rules in 2025, FM Intelligence data show.

The SEC returned $731 million to harmed investors, up from $262 million in fiscal 2025 but below the $930 million distributed in fiscal 2023. Whistleblower awards reached $158 million for 65 people, against $60 million for 48 a year earlier.

The SEC filed 100 of its 348 actions in September, the last month of its fiscal year, including 45 of its 66 cases against companies behind on their periodic reports.