Although there is intensifying political effort to rein in the SEC’s use of administrative proceedings, the current judicial climate heavily favors the SEC’s continued use of its choice of forum. In addition to the high “win/loss” ratio the SEC has achieved via administrative proceedings, a recent study out of the University of Michigan Law School suggests the shift toward administrative proceedings has also been “accompanied by a substantial increase in the average civil penalty imposed on non-financial public companies named as defendants” and that “the complexity, and thus the cost, of cases the SEC brings in administrative proceedings increased after the enactment of Dodd-Frank.”
via Administrative Proceedings Remain Likely for SEC Enforcement Actions | New York Law Journal.