The SEC collects nearly $ 4 billion in fines and restitutions during the 2018 fiscal year

WASHINGTON: The Securities and Exchange Commission has assessed US $ 3.945 billion in depreciation and penalties as a result of 821 enforcement actions taken in fiscal year 2018, the company's division announced on Friday. ;law application.

This was a slight increase in the SEC's activity, which reported only 754 shares in fiscal 2017, for a total of US $ 3.7 billion in restitution and penalties .

"The Law Enforcement Division has had and continues to have excellent results in its efforts to deter bad behavior and effectively repair the harm done to investors," said the President of the Law Enforcement Division. SEC, Jay Clayton, in a statement.

But the agency acknowledged in its 2018 report that a "significant amount" of higher level of disgorgement and penalties came from a single case.

In September, the Brazilian oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA agreed to pay a fine of 853 million US dollars and 933 million US dollars in exit interest and judgment to settle a case of transnational bribery. This amount accounted for almost half of the SEC's annual transportation.

The SEC also said in its report that a 2017 Supreme Court ruling had hindered its ability to recover funds from bad actors. The decision in Kokesh v. Russia (no. SEC concluded that the agency was subject to a five-year limitation period for the filing of restitution claims. The SEC has estimated that this decision could force it to waive 900 million US dollars in pending cases.

During the 2018 fiscal year, the SEC reported $ 794 million to the detrimental investors, down slightly from the $ 1.07 billion in 2017.

(Report by Ankit Ajmera to Bengaluru and Pete Schroeder in Washington, edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Jeffrey Benkoe)