Traders have received stiffer sentencing penalties for securities violations as revealed by The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) survey.
The association's 2013 annual enforcement report highlights the array of harsher penalties being handed down by State enforcement regulators.
There were 4,882 securities investigations, which led to 2,184 enforcement actions; prison sentences increased by 33 percent, representing an additional 455 years in jail; average sentences increased by more than 53 percent to 5.5 years; and those defendants who did not go directly to jail were handed down 679 years on probation, an increase of 96 percent.
In 2013, the licenses of 3,438 broker-dealers, investment advisers and their representatives were either withdrawn denied, revoked, suspended or conditioned by state securities regulators.
“Screening bad actors on the front end as a preventative measure is an often overlooked but vitally important way state securities regulators protect investors before their money can be lost,” Beatty said.