Enforcement activity ramped up in the United States in fiscal year 2015, the Washington, D.C.-based Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Thursday.

In the fiscal year that ended in September, the SEC filed 807 enforcement actions, and obtained orders totaling approximately US$4.2 billion (U.S. dollars) in disgorgement and penalties, the regulator reports.

This represents an increase from 755 enforcement actions, and US$4.16 billion in disgorgement and penalties, that were recorded in fiscal 2014.

Of the 807 enforcement actions that were filed in fiscal 2015, a record 507 of them were independent actions for violations of the federal securities laws, the SEC reports. And the other 300 were either actions against issuers who were delinquent in making required filings, or administrative proceedings seeking bans against individuals based on criminal convictions, civil injunctions, or other orders.

Between 2005 and 2012, independent actions filed by the SEC ranged from approximately 318 to 445 per year, and monetary remedies ordered ranged from US$1 billion to US$3.1 billion, the regulator says.

The SEC brought a number of first-ever actions during the year, including cases involving dark pool disclosure, private equity firms misallocating deal expenses, and a case against a major credit rating agency. As well, financial reporting remained a key enforcement priority during the past fiscal year, which included a number of significant financial fraud and issuer disclosure cases, the SEC says.

“Vigorous and comprehensive enforcement protects investors and reassures them that our financial markets operate with integrity and transparency, and the commission continues that enforcement approach by bringing innovative cases holding executives and companies accountable for their wrongdoing sending clear warnings to would-be violators,” says Mary Jo White, SEC chairwoman, in a statement. “The enforcement division’s leveraging of data, quantitative analytics and the expertise of our other divisions contributed significantly to this year’s very strong results.”