The latest data from the NASAA 2022 Enforcement Report reinforces the critical role of securities regulators in protecting investors from fraud and financial abuse.
2022 NASAA Enforcement Report Highlights
(Based on 2021 data.)
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is an international association of state, provincial and territorial securities regulators in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NASAA members have protected Main Street investors from investment schemes for more than 100 years. They continue to serve as the first, and often the last, line of defense against white-collar crime and financial misconduct targeting the investing public.
This report provides an overview of recent securities enforcement efforts in the United States. The report summarizes these efforts using information compiled from NASAA’s most recent annual survey of U.S. members (also referred to in this report as state securities regulators). This year, the responses reported by state securities regulators in 48 jurisdictions generally covered their 2021 fiscal and calendar years. The NASAA Enforcement Section coordinated the reporting of these responses and then analyzed the measures to identify new trends, current market developments and emerging public threats. The analysis clearly shows that state securities regulators are leaders in protecting the public from illegal and fraudulent investment schemes.
Despite new and ongoing challenges derived from the pandemic, state securities regulators continued to serve on the front lines of the fight against financial fraud. In 2021, they investigated 7,029 cases and reported 1,661 enforcement actions, including 196 criminal actions, 80 civil actions, and 1,284 administrative actions. Although the pandemic may have limited access to courts and restricted their ability to pursue other investigatory tactics, NASAA’s U.S. members nevertheless secured $312,097,734 in restitution and $145,567,334 in fines. They also successfully secured justice for victims of white-collar investment crimes, reporting 6,594 months in prison sentences and 2,237 months of supervised release.
Their work demonstrates that state securities regulators are uniquely positioned to act swiftly to protect all investors – including retirees, senior citizens and other vulnerable victims.
