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September 28, 2020 at 05:11 PM
State securities regulators reported 738 actions against unregistered parties in 2019, a 15% increase in the number of cases brought in the previous year, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association’s recently released enforcement report.
(Related: Cheating on Exams Will Get You Barred, FINRA Warns)
In 2019, more than 4,800 license/registration applications were withdrawn as a result of state action or attention, a slight increase from approximately 4,500 withdrawals reported during 2018.
“This information is indicative of the measures regulators take to prevent bad actors from entering the market,” NASAA states in its report. “In many cases, applicants withdraw their candidacy for licenses or registrations due to state investigations or forthcoming actions to deny, suspend or revoke their applications.”
State securities regulators conducted 6,525 investigations in 2019, up 23% from the year before, and took 2,755 enforcement actions, up 33% from 2018.
These actions led to $634 million in restitution ordered returned to investors, fines of $80 million and criminal relief of 956 years, including incarceration and probation.
