SEC says sanctions topped $1 billion

The Securities and Exchange Commission, facing congressional questions over its vigilance in policing Wall Street and corporate fraud, said Monday that it im- posed more than $1 billion in sanctions in the last fiscal year.

Fines and orders extracting ill-gotten profits surpassed that amount in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, the SEC said in an annual report, without giving specific figures.

The agency imposed $1.6 billion in sanctions a year earlier, and more than $3 billion in each of the three previous years.

SEC spokesman John Heine said the agency was still preparing a precise breakdown of fines and disgorgements.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and committee member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked the Government Accountability Office this year to examine whether SEC investigators had adequate enforcement resources after sanctions declined 51% in fiscal 2007.

Figures for 2008 may come under scrutiny in that review. The agency previously said it brought the second-highest number of cases in its history that year.

The year’s SEC tally doesn’t include preliminary settlements with banks such as Citigroup Inc. and UBS for sales of auction-rate securities before the market’s collapse in February.

The accords, reached in tandem with states including New York and Massachusetts, are the largest in the agency’s history, returning more than $50 billion to investors.