Dataset History
Jun 2026
Initial publication. All SEC enforcement waves through January 2025 captured. No new standalone off-channel actions identified under Atkins administration as of publication date.
Forthcoming
Any new enforcement actions under Atkins; CFTC parallel actions to be added; individual firm-level penalty data to be completed.
Total Enforcement Waves
9
Dec 2021 — Jan 2025
Total Firms Charged (SEC)
120+
BD, RIA, and dual registrants
Total SEC Penalties
~$2.8B
SEC alone; ~$3.6B with CFTC
Actions Under Atkins
0
Standalone off-channel cases
as of Jun 2026
Enforcement Waves by Year — Number of Firms Charged Per Wave
Each bar represents a single enforcement wave (press release date). Multiple waves occurred in some years.
2022
16 firms · $1.1B SEC
2023 W1
11 firms · $289M SEC
2023 W2
10 firms · $79M SEC
2024 W1
16 firms · $81M SEC
2024 W2
1 firm (RIA) · $6.5M SEC
2024 W3
26 firms · $390M SEC
2024 W4
11 firms · $88M SEC
2025 W1
12 firms · $63M SEC
2025–26
No standalone off-channel actions under Atkins as of June 2026
—
All Enforcement Waves — Chronological
| Date |
Firms Charged |
Type |
SEC Penalty |
Notable Firms |
| Dec 17, 2021 |
1 |
BD |
$125M |
JPMorgan Securities — first action, largest single-firm penalty of sweep |
| Sep 27, 2022 |
16 |
BD |
$1.1B |
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Wells Fargo — largest aggregate wave |
| Aug 8, 2023 |
11 |
BD |
$289M |
Wedbush (first dually registered BD/RIA charged); HSBC, Scotia Capital charged separately in May 2023 ($22.5M combined) |
| Sep 29, 2023 |
10 |
Mixed |
$79M |
First wave to include standalone RIA affiliates of larger financial groups |
| Feb 9, 2024 |
16 |
Mixed |
$81M |
First significant wave to include standalone RIA entities at meaningful scale |
| Apr 3, 2024 |
1 |
RIA |
$6.5M |
Senvest Management — first standalone private fund manager charged; also charged with failure to supervise and code of ethics violations; 30-day auto-delete functions on personal devices noted |
| Aug 14, 2024 |
26 |
Mixed |
$390M |
Largest single wave by firm count; 11 BDs, 3 standalone RIAs, 11 dual registrants; $392M combined |
| Sep 24, 2024 |
11 |
Mixed |
$88M |
Included credit rating agencies — first extension beyond traditional financial firms |
| Jan 13, 2025 |
12 |
Mixed |
$63M |
Blackstone ($12M), KKR ($11M), Apollo — 9 standalone RIAs, 3 BDs; likely final Gensler-era wave; Atkins confirmed as Chair Feb 2025 |
Key Observations
Escalating Firm Count
Wave size grew from 1 firm (Dec 2021) to a peak of 26 firms (Aug 2024) before declining. The sweep expanded systematically — starting with the largest broker-dealers, moving to mid-size BDs, then to dual registrants, then to standalone RIAs, and finally to credit rating agencies.
Declining Per-Firm Penalties
JPMorgan paid $125M alone in Dec 2021. By Jan 2025, 12 firms split $63M — averaging $5.25M each. Per-firm penalty size declined sharply as the sweep moved from megabanks to mid-size BDs to standalone RIAs, reflecting firm size and ability to pay.
RIA Exposure Was Later and Smaller — But Real
Standalone RIAs were largely absent from the first five waves. The first standalone private fund manager (Senvest) wasn't charged until April 2024 — 28 months after JPMorgan. The Jan 2025 wave included Blackstone, KKR, and Apollo at significant penalties. The RIA sweep was accelerating when the administration changed.
Complete Stop Under Atkins
Zero standalone off-channel enforcement actions have been filed under Chairman Atkins as of June 2026. Atkins has explicitly characterized standalone recordkeeping cases as consuming "excessive Commission resources not commensurate with any measure of investor harm." White & Case described the Jan 2025 wave as possibly the "last wave."
Self-Reporting Consistently Rewarded
In multiple waves, the SEC explicitly reduced or waived penalties entirely for firms that self-reported violations before being asked. This was a consistent feature across the entire sweep and is worth tracking as a data point — the discount for self-reporting was real and material.
The Obligation Hasn't Changed
No rule has been amended. Rule 204-2(a)(7) still requires advisers to preserve records of all written communications relating to advice given. Atkins' posture is an enforcement deprioritization, not a regulatory change. A future administration could resume standalone cases immediately — the legal exposure from uncaptured communications continues to accumulate.
The Question Every CCO Is Actually Asking
The data supports a specific and nuanced answer. The Gensler-era standalone off-channel sweep appears to be over — zero actions under Atkins in 15+ months is not ambiguous. But three things haven't changed: the underlying recordkeeping obligation, the evidence that firms' communications contain compliance-relevant content that examiners want access to, and the fact that off-channel violations tend to surface as aggravating factors in other enforcement actions rather than disappearing entirely. The Atkins strategic plan commits to focusing on "clear violations of established law," which recordkeeping failures technically are — they just aren't the administration's priority for standalone action.
The risk a CCO should actually be evaluating: not "will we get a standalone off-channel enforcement action" but "if we get examined for a substantive issue and our off-channel communications are relevant, will they be producible." The answer to that question hasn't changed at all.
Methodology and Sources. All data sourced from SEC.gov litigation releases, administrative proceedings, and press releases. Penalty figures reflect SEC penalties only unless otherwise noted; CFTC parallel actions (which added approximately $800M in additional penalties across the same sweep) are excluded from totals. Firm counts reflect entities charged, not individuals. "Standalone RIA" means an SEC-registered investment adviser not affiliated with a broker-dealer at the time of the action. Data verified against primary SEC source documents; all figures subject to revision as additional source documents are reviewed. This dataset will be updated when new enforcement actions are filed. This is a factual data compilation. No legal conclusions should be drawn from this data without consulting qualified counsel.