What to Expect in SEC Rulemaking: Takeaways From the SEC’s Spring 2026 Regulatory Agenda
The SEC has released its Spring 2026 regulatory agenda. With nearly 40 action items in the prerule or proposed-rule stages and many proposals scheduled for October 2026, the agenda signals a robust effort focused on reducing compliance burdens, facilitating capital formation, and providing greater regulatory certainty for digital assets.
External Review Recommends Sweeping Changes to FINRA Enforcement Program
On June 30, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published an outside expert report setting forth significant recommendations for the management, investigation, review, and resolution of enforcement matters. FINRA commissioned the review in July 2025 as part of its FINRA Forward modernization initiative, retaining Professor Paul Eckert of William & Mary Law School and former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes to evaluate opportunities for “meaningful, common-sense improvements” to FINRA’s enforcement program.
Supreme Court Upholds SEC Authority to Obtain Disgorgement Without Actual Loss But Leaves Important Questions Unanswered
The Supreme Court’s decision in Sripetch v. SEC gives the SEC a meaningful win, holding that the agency may seek disgorgement of ill-gotten gains without proving that investors suffered financial losses.
But the Court stopped short of resolving the broader questions that could prove even more consequential. It left open whether statutory disgorgement remains an equitable remedy subject to Liu’s limitations and whether defendants are entitled to a jury trial when the SEC seeks disgorgement under the Exchange Act.
Our latest blog post examines what Sripetch decided, the critical issues it left unanswered, and why those unresolved questions are likely to shape the next wave of SEC enforcement litigation.
Supreme Court Rules for SEC on Disgorgement Awards
In a win for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Sripetch v. SEC, No. 25-466 (June 4, 2026) that an SEC disgorgement award does not require proof of pecuniary loss by investors. The case involved the new statutory disgorgement remedy (in Exchange Act Section 21(d)(7)) that Congress added in 2021, following the Supreme Court’s decisions in Kokesh and Liu, which together curtailed the SEC’s disgorgement remedy by subjecting it to statutory time limits and equitable constraints.
The practical result is that the SEC will have a somewhat easier time obtaining disgorgement awards in future enforcement cases. But the Supreme Court’s decision explicitly left open a number of interesting questions: whether the equitable constraints identified in Liu apply to the new statutory disgorgement remedy (the Court assumed here that they do), whether disgorgement is available when it is infeasible to distribute funds to investors, and whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right under Jarkesy is implicated by the disgorgement remedy. How the SEC pursues disgorgement awards going forward may implicate all those questions and lead to future litigation. We’ll be watching closely.
SEC Rescinds Its Gag Rule Policy
The SEC yesterday rescinded its so-called gag rule policy prohibiting parties from denying the allegations in no admit/no deny settlements. The SEC also announced it would not enforce gag rule provisions in existing settlements (which it pointed out was not enforced previously). Even with this policy change, the SEC can still agree to no admit/no deny settlements, and it noted that it may continue to require admissions in some cases.
The practical effects of this policy change remain uncertain, but we can predict at least two possible consequences despite the fact that this will be a welcome change for some settling parties. First, the SEC staff may seek to include more detailed allegations in settled orders to make it more difficult for settling parties to deny the allegations. Second, some settling parties have viewed the gag rule as helpful because it constrained their public statements after a settlement. Without the ability to rely on the “no deny” language, those parties may now face pressure to say more, which could introduce new risks.
New U.S. SEC Enforcement Director David Woodcock Signals Continued “Back to Basics” Approach
New SEC Enforcement Director David Woodcock used his first public remarks to signal continuity with Chairman Paul Atkins’s “back to basics” agenda, emphasizing “quality over quantity” and a focus on cases involving real investor harm rather than technical violations. Woodcock identified key enforcement priorities and announced reinstitution of the Retail Fraud Working Group to focus specifically on protecting retail investors.
SEC Enforcement FY2025 Results Signal Shift in Priorities in Direct Critique of Prior Administration
On April 7, 2026, the SEC Division of Enforcement published its annual enforcement results for the 2025 fiscal year (October 2024 through September 2025). The Division reported 456 total enforcement actions, the lowest number in at least 20 years, including 303 “stand-alone” actions; 69 “follow-on” administrative proceedings arising from other civil, criminal, or administrative events; and 84 actions against delinquent filers. The SEC also reported approximately $17.9 billion in monetary relief.
FinCEN Postpones Effective Date of Anti-Money-Laundering Rule for Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers
On July 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it intends to postpone the effective date of the final rule requiring anti-money-laundering (AML) programs for certain investment advisers (the IA AML Rule). The rule, previously scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026, will now be delayed until January 1, 2028.
