The Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act of 2024 increases financial penalties for securities law violations enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bill raises base penalty amounts across four major securities laws—the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940—roughly doubling first and second-tier penalties in most cases. It creates a new third tier of penalties for the most serious violations involving fraud, manipulation, or reckless disregard of regulations that cause substantial losses or gains, with maximums of one million dollars for individuals and ten million dollars for companies, or three times the gains received. The bill also imposes a fourth tier of penalties, tripling the otherwise applicable penalty for repeat offenders who were convicted of securities fraud or previously sanctioned by the SEC within the five years before their violation. Additionally, the bill treats violations of court injunctions and SEC bar orders as separate daily offenses to strengthen enforcement against those who ignore sanctions. The bill does not include specific funding amounts or implementation timelines.
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