Business

SEC collects record $3.4B in sanctions

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it levied a record $3.4 billion in sanctions in enforcement cases in the latest fiscal year, up 10 percent from the previous year.

The sanctions were boosted in part by a more than $600 million settlement with a unit of hedge fund SAC Capital, $525 million with BP, and a $200 million fine of JPMorgan Chase.

Fiscal 2013’s total sanctions were 22 percent higher than those obtained in the 2011 fiscal year, the agency said.

“Our results show that we are prepared to tackle the breadth and complexity of today’s securities markets,” SEC Chair Mary Jo White said in a statement.

White, a former federal prosecutor and litigator, came to the agency in April and pledged to make enforcement a centerpiece of her tenure.

Since then, she has changed SEC policies to seek more admissions from defendants and has said her lawyers are ready to take more cases to trial.