The SEC under the second Trump administration is on track for its least active docket of earnings fraud and auditor liability cases since Ronald Reagan occupied the White House.
Fresh priorities under new leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission—along with a staff exodus and a 43-day government shutdown—have stunted the regulator’s efforts to hold companies and their outside auditors accountable.
The SEC has issued just 20 enforcement actions so far this year involving violations that range from accounting errors to fraud, as well as audit failures.
That case count falls far short of the 79 financial reporting-related actions the Wall Street watchdog has issued on average annually since the start of President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, according to case data compiled by professors at the University of Southern California.
“It’s truly a historic lack of enforcement this year,” said William Floyd, an accounting analyst and adviser to Floyd Advisory.
Source: SEC’s Earnings Fraud, Auditor Liability Cases Plunge Under Trump