SEC enforcement

What it is

The SEC publishes three lists of its enforcement work: litigation releases (cases in federal court), administrative proceedings (orders of the Commission) and trading suspensions (a pause in trading in one stock). This feed shows all three, newest first, and marks the names that match a company that files with the SEC.

Who files it

The SEC itself. Each row links to the release on sec.gov, where the SEC explains what it alleges or orders.

How current

We check the SEC's lists several times a day on SEC business days.

Terms

Litigation releaseA litigation release is the SEC's own account of a case it has brought in a federal court, or of the outcome of one. Unless the release states a judgment, what it describes is an allegation.Administrative proceedingAn administrative proceeding is a case the SEC brings before its own administrative law judges or the Commission, and an order is its result. Many are settled, with the respondent agreeing to the order without admitting or denying the findings.Trading suspensionThe SEC can pause trading in a stock for up to ten business days when it has questions about the accuracy of the information available about the company. A suspension is a pause, not a finding.Company matchWe match the names the SEC lists to companies that file with the SEC. A confident match is a name that is exactly a company's name, legal form included (never a person's name, a bare one-word name, or half of an "A and B" unless that half is a company by its legal form), or a trading suspension order that prints the company's CIK. A possible match is a similar name that may well be a different company. Most names are people or private firms and match no company.

Worth knowing

A litigation release is the SEC's account of its allegations unless it states a judgment; an order may have been agreed without the respondent admitting or denying the findings; a trading suspension is a pause, not a finding. Being named is not a finding about a company, and most names are people or private firms. We match names to companies automatically: a possible match is a similar name that may be a different company, so check the release before relying on it. The SEC's list gives names and a release number, not a summary. Information, not investment advice.

This comes from the SEC's own enforcement lists.