by Michael Klausner and Jason Hegland

Commentators have criticized the SEC for targeting and penalizing corporations for securities fraud while allowing the individuals that committed the violations to go unpunished.[1]  As explained in this blog, however, the SEC frequently targets and penalizes individual officers. Using the Stanford Securities Litigation Analytics database[2], we document the SEC’s enforcement practices with respect to imposing penalties on corporations and on the individuals who commit the violations with which corporations are charged.  The data used in this blog include all SEC enforcement actions for disclosure violations from 2000 through 2014.  Continue reading →