<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) collected more than $4.3 billion in disgorgement and penalties in 2019. Moreover, the SEC returned roughly $1.2 billion to harmed investors.</p> <p>According to the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-233" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press release published Wednesday</a>, the SEC brought 862 enforcement actions in 2019 including issuer disclosure, accounting violations, auditor misconduct, investment advisory issues, securities offerings, market manipulation, insider trading and broker-dealer misconduct.</p> <p>Notably, Block.One, the firm behind EOS, agreed to a $24 million settlement with the SEC after allegedly raising $4 billion. Airfox, Paragon Coin, ICO Rating, Nebulous (the firm behind Sia) also settled charges with the SEC in the fiscal year of 2019. None of the penalties were more than $300,000. Kik, which issued its own cryptocurrency, is also currently being sued by the SEC. </p>