Under Trump, SEC Enforcement Of Insider Trading Dropped To Lowest Point In Decades

Aug 17, 20200

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Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill in May 2019. At his 2017 confirmation hearing, Clayton pledged "zero room for bad actors in our capital markets," but enforcement of insider trading is at the lowest in decades. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The government agency responsible for policing Wall Street brought the fewest number of insider trading cases in decades, according to the most recent available data.

That decline came just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Securities and Exchange Commission now warns that the pandemic has created wild swings in the market and more opportunities for insider trading.

NPR reviewed data from the 1980s through last year and found that under the Trump administration, the SEC brought just 32 insider trading enforcement actions in 2019, the lowest number since 1996.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/901862355/under-trump-sec-enforcement-of-insider-trading-dropped-to-lowest-point-in-decade?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20200814&utm_term=4750161&utm_campaign=breaking-news&utm_id=48780983&orgid=309