SEC Is Failing to Show the Money

According to a new report by the NERA Economic Consulting, the SEC settled with 205 defendants in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, compared to 181 defendants in the previous quarter and 123 in the first fiscal quarter of 2009. However, although the number of settlements jumped, the average and median monetary settlement amounts were lower in the last quarter than the SEC’s full fiscal year 2009. Specifically, the average monetary settlement for companies in the fiscal first quarter 2010 was $4.7 million, compared to $10.8 million in fiscal year 2009. The median settlement was $0.4 million, compared to $1 million in 2009. Moreover, the proportion of company settlements that included a monetary payment was the third lowest in any quarter since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and well below the 56% rate for fourth quarter 2002 through fourth quarter 2009.