When the fine is much smaller than the ill-gotten
Post# of 72440
Yes, the SEC goes after a little bit of low-hanging fruit. But they sit there seeing tremendous abuses and do NOTHING, or, they put these tiny fines on the criminals.
They do things like go after Martin Shkreli, one of the deservedly most-hated people there is, so that it looks like they are actually doing something. But the small amount of good they do is outweighed by their inaction.
Looking in human terms, it's easy to see why. People don't want to anger the company they might be working for, after they get their retirement vested in the gubmint. And those who come to the SEC from the industry also do not want to go after their friends and former colleagues.