In the fiscal year 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States achieved a remarkable feat in penalties and fines, largely attributed to a significant resolution with Terraform Labs, a cryptocurrency company.
The SEC reported a record-breaking $8.2 billion in financial remedies for the period ending on September 30, despite a 26% decrease in the number of cases to 583 compared to the previous year.
A significant chunk of this amount was obtained through the SEC’s legal success against Terraform Labs and its former CEO, Do Kwon. The company settled for $4.47 billion after being found guilty of fraud related to the collapse of its blockchain platform in 2022, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars.
Without this settlement, the SEC’s collections would have amounted to $3.72 billion, the lowest since 2013 when it collected $3.4 billion in penalties and fines.
Overall, the SEC’s total fines and penalties for 2024 increased by 65.5% from the previous year. The agency collected $2.1 billion in penalties and a record $6.1 billion in disgorgement, which involves returning illegal profits to affected investors. In a statement, outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler highlighted the agency’s commitment to holding wrongdoers accountable.
This record-breaking year marks the end of Gensler’s almost four-year tenure as he is set to step down on January 20, 2025, coinciding with President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. During his leadership, the SEC maintained a strict stance against cryptocurrency companies, with enforcement actions related to crypto reaching a peak of 46 last year.
Although the number of crypto cases dropped to 11 in 2024, fines related to these actions surged by over 3,000% due to the Terraform settlement.
