/>iIn May 2025, we summarized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement activity during the first quarter of the new presidential administration. With the second quarter now concluded, and Paul S. Atkins hitting his stride as the new Chairman of the SEC, we summarize below the types of SEC enforcement actions filed during the second quarter of 2025.
The Stats
The SEC publicly discloses each new enforcement action it files in federal district court or as an administrative proceeding. Although the SEC recently has received much attention for old cases it dismissed, rather than new cases it brought, we focus here on the latter. And a review of the cases shows that, at a high level, the SEC brought the following types of actions from April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025.
- The SEC filed 31 stand-alone enforcement actions, consisting of:
- 24 actions in federal district court; and
- Seven administrative proceedings.
- The subject matter of those actions included:
- 27 cases alleging fraudulent conduct (other than insider trading);
- Nine cases involving investment advisers;
- Six cases with parallel criminal proceedings;
- Two cases alleging unregistered municipal advisors; and
- One case alleging that a broker-dealer failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).
- The SEC also brought eight follow-on actions, imposing various suspensions or bars based on the entry of an order in a prior civil or criminal proceeding.
(The subject matters listed above exceed the number of stand-alone actions because a single action might involve more than one subject matter. For example, one case might involve both fraudulent conduct and an investment adviser.)
Takeaways
As SEC observers seek to discern the direction of enforcement under Chairman Atkins, several points may be gleaned from the second quarter of 2025:
First, every case filed in district court alleged fraud. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, when the SEC seeks civil penalties for securities fraud, the defendant is entitled to a jury trial. See SEC v. Jarkesy, 603 U.S. 109, 120-21 (2024). So, it is no surprise that the SEC now files all of its fraud cases in district court (where a jury is available) and not in its administrative forum (where cases are decided by administrative law judges). But it is notable that the SEC did not bring any non-fraud cases in district court. Perhaps this reflects that the SEC has refocused its limited enforcement resources on fraud cases involving more egregious conduct, rather than non-fraud cases involving technical violations. Time will tell.
Second, the SEC remains active in the investment adviser space, policing violations involving fee disclosures and conflicts of interest, among other things. Thus, investment advisers should anticipate scrutiny from the SEC and proactively ensure that their disclosures are accurate and their compliance functions operate effectively.
Third, the SEC continues to bring actions against broker-dealers for failing to file SARs. The Bank Secrecy Act, together with Section 17(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 17a-8 thereunder, require broker-dealers to file SARs in connection with certain suspicious transactions. Bringing enforcement actions against broker-dealers for failing to file SARs was an area of emphasis before Chairman Atkins took the helm of the SEC, and it appears to remain a focus. Broker-dealers should thus ensure that their policies and procedures relating to SARs are effective.
Fourth, the SEC continues to coordinate with criminal enforcement authorities, typically at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on parallel investigations. One area where the SEC and DOJ often bring parallel actions is insider trading. Interestingly, the SEC did not bring any insider trading cases during the second quarter of this year, even though DOJ brought several. Whether that indicates a trend or a statistical blip remains to be seen. Notably, on July 10, 2025, after the quarter ended, the SEC brought an insider trading case in parallel with DOJ, so perhaps the dearth of SEC insider trading cases in the second quarter was simply an anomaly.
