U.S. Securities Enforcement: Our predictions for 2026

Consistent with patterns from past administrations, we expect U.S. securities enforcement to accelerate modestly in 2026. The SEC and FINRA will likely focus increasingly on cases about foreign actors, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies, alongside traditional areas of enforcement with an emphasis on addressing investor harm. 

Fiscal year 2025 marked a period of significant change in U.S. securities enforcement. The SEC encouraged staff to leave, made it harder to open investigations, and made it easier for potential defendants to dissuade the Commission from bringing charges. At the same time, the agency signaled a renewed focus on cases involving "genuine harm and bad acts," rather than victimless procedural failings.

Against that backdrop, it is unsurprising that SEC enforcement activity dropped substantially in 2025. But we expect that downward trend to stabilize, if not modestly reverse, in 2026.

History supports this view. During recent administration changes, SEC enforcement activity has typically dipped during the first fiscal year before rebounding. During Trump 1.0’s first fiscal year, for example, standalone enforcement actions fell to 446 from 548 the prior year, only to rise to 490 the following year, and 526 two years later. A similar pattern emerged under the Biden Administration: enforcement actions declined to 434 in its first fiscal year, then increased to 462 in fiscal year 2022 and 501 in fiscal year 2023.

The SEC is not the only U.S. securities regulator to watch. In 2026, we also expect steady enforcement activity from regulators that are, to some extent, shielded from changes in Administration priorities. Chief among them is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the non-governmental self-regulatory organization responsible for overseeing broker-dealers.

This year, FINRA is likely to focus on:

• Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI): FINRA is also likely to continue, and potentially accelerate, enforcement related to Reg BI. In December 2025, FINRA’s lead enforcer, Bill St. Louis, announced that the agency is still seeing firms with “fundamental errors” in complying with Reg BI’s requirement that brokers recommend investments in customers’ best interests. He also noted that FINRA brought more Reg BI cases in 2025 than in 2024, pointing to sustained enforcement momentum heading into 2026.
• Anti-money laundering: Mr. St. Louis observed that FINRA has identified firms that failed to maintain written supervisory procedures reasonably designed to detect and report suspicious activity, as well as firms that conducted inadequate customer due diligence.
• Crypto-related risks: Finally, FINRA has signaled ongoing concern around crypto-related communications and sales practices. According to Mr. St. Louis, a recent sweep identified firms whose investor communications about crypto assets were not fair and balanced, were potentially misleading, or omitted material information.
• Artificial intelligence: Like the SEC, FINRA is expected to increase its focus on firms’ use of AI. In December 2025, FINRA published a report warning that its rules, and the securities laws more broadly, “continue to apply when firms use GenAI or similar technologies”. That warning signals potential enforcement where firms deploy AI without adequate supervision, controls or disclosures.
• Cross border issues: FINRA is likely to amplify the SEC’s renewed attention to foreign issuers and cross-border risk. In October 2025, FINRA announced a review of firm practices related to public and private offerings of small-capitalized, exchange listed issuers with business operations in foreign jurisdictions, including China. That initiative suggests increased scrutiny of broker-dealer diligence, disclosures and supervisory controls in cross-border transactions.