NASAA Summarizes Recent Enforcement Trends

The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") identified recent enforcement trends in an annual summary of enforcement actions.

In the 2018 Enforcement Report, NASAA highlighted that in 2017:

• roughly 8,000 complaints were received and approximately 5,000 investigations initiated;
• almost $486 million was returned to investors; and
• coordinated enforcement efforts served to maximize NASAA's collective ability to protect the investing public.

Further, NASAA identified a large increase in enforcement actions against unregistered individuals and firms and that seniors remained a primary target of investment fraud. NASAA also noted an increase in enforcement focus on suspect initial coin offerings and other investments involving cryptocurrencies.