The SEC issues billions in fines each year, but much of it will never be collected. In fact, over the past decade, they've had to write off nearly $10B in uncollected penalties.
Here's an incredible example:
Paul Bilzerian has been dodging a $62M judgment for 31 years by...
Pleading poverty
Declaring bankruptcy (twice)
Moving to St. Kitts and Nevis
His unpaid fines are now at $180M! 💸
The SEC typically writes off penalties and other amounts owed that go unpaid for just two years.
In FY2023, while the SEC announced $4.9B in financial sanctions, they had to write off $1.9B in old uncollected penalties. That's not exactly a great success rate.
In FY 2024, the SEC issued $8.2B in fines. A huge chunk ($4.47B) came from one case, Terraform Labs, which will probably go unpaid due to bankruptcy.
The current system seems built for headlines, not results.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/finance/regulation/sec-fines-penalties-collection-write-off-071cb768
