SEC Brought 68% Fewer Accounting and Auditing Actions in 2025

SEC, PCAOB Enforcement Hit Multiyear Lows in 2025, Report Says

Accounting and auditing enforcement actions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board dropped sizably in 2025, falling to multiyear lows at both bodies, according to a report released Wednesday.

The SEC brought 68% fewer accounting and auditing actions in 2025 than in 2024 and the PCAOB brought 27% fewer actions, according to two studies by Cornerstone Research. The commission’s 10 enforcement actions were the fewest taken in nine years, and the PCAOB’s 37 enforcement actions were the fewest in four years, the report found.

Both agencies experienced leadership changes in 2025: Paul Atkins became chair at the SEC on April 21, while George Botic became acting chair of the PCAOB on July 23. Slowdowns in enforcement often occur during periods of transition, but last year was an unusual decrease in activity, said Jean-Philippe Poissant, a report coauthor and co-head of Cornerstone Research’s accounting practice.

“I think what we’ve seen in 2025 is the drop was much more substantial,” he said.

Chaotic Prediction Markets, Like Gambling, Need Reining In

It seems clear that when Congress enacted the Commodity Exchange Act in 1936, it didn’t plan to empower sprawling nationwide gambling companies nor to create easily manipulated prediction markets in public affairs. Rather than allowing years of delay and costly litigation — and letting many customers lose their shirts in the meantime — Congress should intervene.

As a start, it should amend the CEA to clearly define event contracts — for instance, by distinguishing between those that have a plausible market rationale and those (like sports gambling) that don’t — while restricting gambling on political events. It should ensure that prediction markets adhere to a clear rule book rather than erratic CFTC interpretations. It should also set baseline consumer-protection standards on all gambling companies (along the lines of the SAFE Bet Act) while allowing states to write stricter laws if they wish.

The “equitable” officer and director bar

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to dismiss its case against a former CFO shortly before trial was apparently based on “its ongoing review of evidence, including evidence developed in discovery.” But it’s worth noting that this negligence-based case was one of the rare litigated matters in which the Commission asked for an “equitable” officer and director bar–in the absence of any fraud charges. A trial on negligence claims would have been unusual, and litigation over what the court called “a remedy rarely awarded” even more so. It’s worth keeping an eye on how this Commission approaches what often matters most to those in its cross-hairs: the relief that it seeks.

Donald Trump’s crypto legacy in two words: Paul Atkins

This will be the first administration to actually write rules with decentralized financial networks in mind.

Under new rules, it should be possible, for example, for exchanges like Kraken, Coinbase, and Crypto. com to finally say that all their operations are registered with an agency and under state supervision.

It should also be possible for new enterprises to raise funds with token sales. Some of those tokens will likely enjoy rights that entrepreneurs avoided during the regulation-by-enforcement era, such as the ability to distribute revenue.
Provided the rules are written conservatively enough to survive court challenges, the industry is likely to have two or three years to grow before it’s even possible to roll back the work of Atkins and Selig (because doing so will require both a Senate appointment process and a fresh rulemaking process).