> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.secapi.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SEC Enforcement Actions API — Search Violations and Penalties

> Access structured SEC enforcement action data via API. Search by violation type, respondent, date range, and penalty amount. Track fraud cases and regulatory trends. Get started free at secapi.ai/signup.

The SEC brings hundreds of enforcement actions each year against individuals and companies for securities fraud, insider trading, accounting violations, and other regulatory breaches. SEC API structures this data and exposes it through a searchable API.

## What you get

* **Structured enforcement data**: Respondent names, violation types, relief sought, penalty amounts, and dates
* **Flexible filtering**: By violation type, date range, and respondent
* **Historical coverage**: Enforcement actions from 2010 to present
* **Real-time updates**: New actions indexed within hours of SEC publication

## Quick start

Search for recent enforcement actions:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/events/enforcement?limit=5"
```

```json theme={null}
{
  "data": [
    {
      "date": "2024-12-15",
      "respondent_name": "Acme Corp",
      "violation_type": "Securities Fraud",
      "relief_sought": "Injunction, Disgorgement, Civil Penalty",
      "penalty_amount": 15000000,
      "litigation_release_number": "LR-26123",
      "summary": "SEC charges Acme Corp and two executives with securities fraud for overstating revenue..."
    }
  ]
}
```

Filter by violation type:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/events/enforcement?violation_type=insider_trading&date_from=2024-01-01&limit=10"
```

## Use cases

### Compliance and due diligence

Screen counterparties, portfolio companies, and potential hires against SEC enforcement history. Automate checks that compliance teams currently do manually.

### Regulatory trend analysis

Track enforcement volume, penalty amounts, and violation types over time to identify where the SEC is focusing attention. Useful for policy teams and legal practices.

### Risk assessment

Cross-reference enforcement respondents against your portfolio holdings. Flag companies or executives with prior SEC actions.

### Legal research

Search enforcement actions by violation type and date range. Replace manual searches on the SEC litigation releases page with structured API queries.

## Violation types

| Type                  | Description                                        |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `fraud`               | Securities fraud, wire fraud                       |
| `insider_trading`     | Trading on material non-public information         |
| `accounting`          | Accounting fraud, improper revenue recognition     |
| `market_manipulation` | Pump and dump, spoofing, layering                  |
| `investment_adviser`  | Investment adviser fraud, breach of fiduciary duty |
| `offering_violations` | Unregistered offerings, Reg D violations           |
| `fcpa`                | Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations           |
| `whistleblower`       | Whistleblower retaliation                          |

## API endpoints

| Endpoint                     | Description                           |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `GET /v1/events/enforcement` | Search and filter enforcement actions |

### Filter parameters

| Parameter               | Description           | Example           |
| ----------------------- | --------------------- | ----------------- |
| `violation_type`        | Category of violation | `insider_trading` |
| `date_from` / `date_to` | Date range            | `2024-01-01`      |
| `limit`                 | Results per page      | `20`              |

## Why SEC API for enforcement data

| Feature                  | SEC API       | SEC.gov             | LexisNexis       | Bloomberg Law |
| ------------------------ | ------------- | ------------------- | ---------------- | ------------- |
| Structured JSON API      | Yes           | No (HTML)           | No (proprietary) | No (terminal) |
| Violation type filtering | Yes           | No                  | Manual           | Manual        |
| Penalty amount search    | Yes           | No                  | Limited          | Limited       |
| Webhook alerts           | Yes           | No                  | No               | No            |
| Pricing                  | Pay-as-you-go | Free (unstructured) | Enterprise       | Enterprise    |

## Get started

<Card title="Get your API key" icon="key" href="/getting-started">
  Start searching enforcement actions in under 60 seconds.
</Card>

* [Search Enforcement Actions Tutorial](/tutorials/search-enforcement-actions)
* [API Reference — Events](/api-reference/events)
* [Full documentation](/api-overview)