Value of SEC public company settlements rises
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The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed $1.6 billion in monetary settlements on defendants in public company and subsidiary actions in fiscal year 2020, compared with the previous fiscal year’s $1.5 billion, according to a report issued Wednesday.
The increase came despite a slowdown in activity during COVID-19’s early phases.
Actions against public companies and subsidiaries totaled 61 in fiscal year 2020, ended Sept. 30, compared with 95 in fiscal year 2019, according to the report issued by New York University’s Pollack Center for Law & Business and San Francisco-based Cornerstone Research Inc.
The report’s findings are based on the Securities Enforcement Empirical Database, a collaboration between the Pollack Center and Cornerstone that covers data beginning with fiscal year 2010.
Among other findings, the SEC imposed $565 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest for civil actions, which was the highest amount in a fiscal year since the start of the database.
Filings against manufacturing or services industry defendants represented 41% of the total actions against public companies and subsidiaries in fiscal year 2020 compared with 23% of the total in fiscal year 2019, according to the report.
