Three Take-Aways from the SEC's Six-Month Report on Administrative Proceedings
By rule, the SEC is required to issue a report on the Commission's administrative proceedings caseload every six months. On October 29, 2014, the SEC issued its most recent report covering the six month period from April 1, 2014 through September 30, 2014. This report also included the statistics from the two prior six-month periods for comparison purposes.
Here are three of the more notable statistics from the report:
1) Newly filed proceedings initiated before the SEC's Administrative Law Judges increased by 44% over the prior six month period. Although, the total number of new matters was roughly on par with those filed in the same six-month period from 2013 (139 for 2014 and 121 for 2013).
2) The median age of the proceedings at the time when the Adminstrative Law Judge issues an initial decision decreased from 52 days in the prior six month period to 40 days in the most recent six month period. This represents a marked improvement on the 186.5 day median for the same six-month period in 2013.
3) While the Administrative Law Judges have improved on the time it take to issue an initial decision, the time it takes the Commission to review ALJ decisions has remained relatively constant, and relatively long. The median age of the proceedings at the time when the Commission completes its review was 524 days in the last six-month period. This compares to 600 days for the prior six-month period, and 539 days for the same six-month period from 2013.
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