The uptick in Securities and Exchange Commission settlements continued during the first half of the year-much of it due to settlements with individuals.

According to data tracked by NERA Economic Consulting, the SEC settled with 354 defendants in the first half of 2010, compared with 328 in the second half of 2009 and 290 in the first half of 2009. The tally marks the second consecutive semiannual increase and the third-largest number of settlements in any half-yearly period since 2005, according to the NERA report, SEC Settlements Trends: 1H10 Update.

Notably, the increase over the past two semi-annual periods has been largely driven by settlements with individuals. NERA reports that the number of settlements with individuals increased to 257 in the first half of the year, up from 225 during the second half of 2009. Meanwhile, the number of settlements with companies fell slightly during the same period to 97 from 103.

The first half of 2010 brought two notable settlements, both related to the sub-prime crisis: the $314 million settlement with State Street Bank and Trust—the seventh-largest SEC settlement since the passage of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the $150 million settlement with Bank of America.

The proportion of company settlements that included a monetary payment increased to 67 percent in the second quarter, up from 42 percent in the first quarter, bringing the company percentage for the first half of 2010 to 53 percent, comparable to the 56 percent average for the entire post-SOX period. Monetary payments were a component in 60 percent of individual settlements in the first half of the year, which NERA says is consistent with the overall post-SOX figure.

Although it represents an increase compared with the second half of 2009, the median company settlement of $0.7 million for the first half of 2010 marks the fourth lowest of any semi-annual period since the passage of SOX.

Meanwhile, for individuals whose settlements included a monetary payment, the median settlement amount of roughly $167,000, represents a post-SOX high.

Notably, the first half saw a surge in insider-trading settlements with individuals. Insider-trading allegations have been an SEC enforcement staple, accounting for 618 (11 percent) of the 5,702 settlements since SOX, according to NERA. The SEC settled 50 insider-trading cases during the first half of 2010—48 of which were against individuals.

The full report is available here.