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ARTICLE · 15 FEBRUARY 2009

SEC Settlements: A New Era Post-SOX

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"NERA has developed a proprietary database of settlements in SEC enforcement actions, by reviewing every litigation release and administrative proceeding document published from July 31, 2002 through September 30, 2008. "

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
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Article by Jan Larsen with Dr. Elaine Buckberg and Dr. Baruch Lev1

NERA has developed a proprietary database of settlements in SEC enforcement actions, by reviewing every litigation release and administrative proceeding document published from July 31, 2002 through September 30, 2008. This paper provides an overview of trends we have identified in the number of settlements and settlement values in the six years since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). More detailed statistics and analysis are available on our Securities Litigation Trends website ( www.SecuritiesLitigationTrends.com).

In recent years the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has imposed unprecedented penalties in its enforcement actions.2 Prior to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the largest penalty imposed in an SEC enforcement action against a publicly-traded company for financial fraud was the $10 million penalty against Xerox in April 2002.3 Our research has shown that

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