Yesterday, law firm Morvillo Abramowitz released the inaugural edition of its new "SEC Enforcement Data Analyses." The report, created by attorneys Lawrence S. Bader and Peter Janowski, closely examines SEC cases filed between January 1, 2013 and September 30, 2013, and offers some interesting observations. These include:

Of the 526 cases filed by the SEC in this time period, less than half (48%) were “Core” cases, i.e., cases that were neither "Follow-on" nor "Delinquent Filer" cases. 30% of the cases were "Follow-on cases" (defined as "administrative proceedings that followed earlier cases (either SEC injunctive actions or parallel criminal cases) citing the results in the earlier cases as a basis for the relief sought..."). 21% of the cases were Delinquent Filer cases.

Although a penalty of 1X the disgorgement amount is still the norm for settled insider trading cases, a look at all of the various types of cases involving disgorgement in this period showed penalties that were all over the map. Of the 77 Core cases filed from January 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013 that involved some amount of disgorgement, 8 resulted in no penalty, 6 resulted in a 1X penalty, 1 resulted in a 2X penalty, none resulted in a 3X penalty, and 53 resulted in some other penalty for which the SEC typically provided no explanation. 

Of the 254 Core cases filed in this period, 131 (52%) were already settled when the SEC filed the action.

The firm stated that it intends to maintain a database of all SEC matters going forward, and that over time it will analyze the data it is collecting to identify "trends in the types of cases brought by the SEC and the kinds of outcomes that have resulted therefrom, either through settlements and/or litigation."