Fiscal Year 2022 was the first full year in the saddle for Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s Director of Enforcement, and Sanjay Wadhwa, the Deputy Director of Enforcement. Under Chair Gary Gensler’s progressive leadership, and with the backing of a hawkish 3-2 majority on the Commission, the Division of Enforcement continued to be aggressive as to charging decisions and remedies. In FY 2022, the SEC filed 760 enforcement actions, imposed an agency record $6.43 billion in civil penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest, and expanded its regulatory waterfront with several first-of-their-kind cases.
In this article, we highlight some of the SEC’s significant enforcement actions from FY 2022 – which spanned from October 2021 through September 2022. These actions provide significant directional guidance regarding the SEC’s enforcement priorities for today and the coming year.