Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release Database API
The Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release (AAER) Database API offers a repository of all AAER releases published by the SEC from 1997 to present. It provides all metadata and extracted structured data of published enforcement actions, including their documents (proceedings, summaries, judgements, etc) as PDF, HTML and their respective text versions (PDF and HTML converted to text).
Example 1: Structured data in JSON format extracted from an AAER
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{
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"dateTime": "2025-01-17T08:45:03-05:00",
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"aaerNo": "AAER-4558",
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"releaseNo": ["33-11356", "34-102226"],
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"respondents": [
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{
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"name": "American Electric Power Company, Inc.",
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"type": "company"
9
}
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],
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"urls": [ ... ],
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"summary": "The SEC has instituted cease-and-desist proceedings against American Electric Power Company, Inc. for misleading statements and failure to disclose material related party transactions, resulting in a $19 million penalty.",
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"tags": ["disclosure fraud", "accounting violations"],
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"entities": [
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{
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"name": "American Electric Power Company, Inc.",
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"type": "company",
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"role": "respondent",
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"cik": "4904",
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"ticker": "AEP"
21
},
22
...
23
],
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"complaints": [
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"American Electric Power issued a misleading press release omitting key facts about contributions to Generation Now.",
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"American Electric Power failed to disclose material related party transactions in its 2019 Form 10-K.",
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"American Electric Power failed to keep accurate books and records and maintain sufficient internal accounting controls."
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],
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"parallelActionsTakenBy": ["Department of Justice"],
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"hasAgreedToSettlement": true,
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"hasAgreedToPayPenalty": true,
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"penaltyAmounts": [
33
{
34
"penaltyAmount": "19000000",
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"penaltyAmountText": "$19,000,000",
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"imposedOn": "American Electric Power Company, Inc."
37
}
38
],
39
"requestedRelief": [
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"cease-and-desist order",
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"civil penalties"
42
],
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"violatedSections": [
44
"Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act",
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"Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act",
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"Rules 12b-20 and 13a-1"
47
],
48
"otherAgenciesInvolved": []
49
}
Dataset Size:
All publicly available AAERs from 1997 to present totaling over 3,000 records.
Data Update Frequency:
New AAERs are added to the database as soon as they are published by the SEC.
Survivorship bias free:
Yes. The AAER database includes all published AAERs from 1997 to present, covering entities that are no longer operational and those that are still active.
Key Features
- Metadata: Includes release date/time, respondents, and URLs to all related documents — ranging from proceedings to judgments.
- Document Conversion: Access documents in various formats — PDF, HTML, and their converted text versions.
- Tagging System: AAER proceedings are tagged with ticker symbols and Central Index Key (CIK) for ease of reference.
- Search Functionality: A search API allows users to query the AAER database based on various criteria like involved parties (respondents), release dates, and more.
- Bulk Download Option: For extensive research and analysis, users have the option to use the bulk-download APIs to obtain the entire AAER metadata and their associated documents in ZIP files.
AAER Overview
The SEC publishes Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAERs) as a part of its effort to inform the public about its enforcement activities related to financial reporting, auditing and accounting. AAERs represent only a subset of the SEC's broader enforcement activities. The actions published typically encompass:
- Civil Lawsuits: These are lawsuits brought by the SEC in federal court against individuals or entities accused of violations related to accounting and auditing standards or financial reporting requirements.
- Administrative Proceedings: These are actions initiated by the SEC to address violations within its jurisdiction but outside the court system. Such proceedings can lead to various outcomes, including penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, or professional bars.
- Settlements: Often, the SEC reaches settlements with respondents or defendants without a trial. These settlements typically involve penalties or other remedies, and the respondents or defendants often do not admit or deny the allegations.
- Cease-and-Desist Orders: These are orders issued by the SEC to an individual or entity to stop an ongoing or potential violation of securities laws.
- Bars or Suspensions: The SEC can bar or suspend professionals from appearing or practicing before it. This can impact accountants, auditors, attorneys, or other professionals who violate securities laws or professional standards.
- Opinions and Adjudicatory Orders: These are decisions made by the SEC following administrative proceedings.
- Notices: The SEC issues notices about various actions, including the institution of administrative proceedings or other relevant updates about AAERs.
API Endpoints
Search API
API to search the AAER database: POST requests to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers
Bulk Download API
API to bulk-download all AAER metadata: GET request to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/metadata/all.json
API to bulk-download all AAER documents per year as ZIP files: GET request to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/documents/{YEAR}.zip
Single File Download API
API to download single AAER documents: GET requests to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/{aaerNo}/{type}-{filename}
API to download single PDFs/HTMLs converted to text: GET requests to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/{aaerNo}/{type}-{filename}.txt
Examples:
Download PDF: https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/aaer-4452/primary-34-98243.pdf?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Download PDF converted to text: https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/aaer-4452/primary-34-98243.pdf.txt?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Download HTML of administrative summary: https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/aaer-4452/administrative%20summary-34-98243-s?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Download HTML of administrative summary as text: https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/aaer-4452/administrative%20summary-34-98243-s.html.txt?token=YOUR_API_KEY
Authentication
To authenticate your API requests, use the API key displayed in your user profile. You can utilize your API key in one of two ways. Choose the method that best fits your use case:
- Authorization Header: Include your API key as an
Authorizationheader in your requests. For instance, before sending aPOSTrequest tohttps://api.sec-api.io/aaers, ensure the header is set as follows:Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY. - Query Parameter: Alternatively, append your API key directly to the URL as a query parameter. For example, when making
POSTrequests, use the URLhttps://api.sec-api.io/aaers?token=YOUR_API_KEYinstead of the base endpoint.
Search API
To search the AAER database, make a POST request to https://api.sec-api.io/aaers, providing your search criteria as a JSON payload.
Request Structure - Search API
The Search API recognizes the following JSON payload parameters:
query(string, required) - The search term or expression, formatted using the Lucene syntax.
Examples:respondents.name:"Plug Power"orentities.ticker:UPS.from(string, optional) - Pagination control to specify the starting position of the results. Max: 10000. Default: 0.size(string, optional) - Determines the number of results to be returned per request. Max: 50. Default: 50.sort(array, optional) - Specifies the field by which results should be sorted. By default, results are sorted bydateTimein descending order, starting with the most recent AAERs.
Request Examples
Retrieve the most recent AAERs
To retrieve the metadata and extracted structured data of the 50 most recently published AAERs, use the following request. The example Lucene query aaerNo:* will return all AAERs, and the sort parameter will sort the results by the dateTime field in descending order, starting with the most recent AAERs.
JSON
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{
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"query": "aaerNo:*",
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"from": "0",
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"size": "50",
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"sort": [{ "dateTime": { "order": "desc" } }]
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}
Retrieve all AAERs from 2010 to 2020
The following request can be used to retrieve the metadata and structured data of all AAERs published between January 2010 and December 2020. The Lucene query dateTime:[2010-01-01 TO 2020-12-31] searches for all AAERs filed between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2020, and returns the first 50 results sorted by the dateTime field in descending order. In order to retrieve all AAERs, the from parameter should be incremented by 50 in subsequent requests until no more results are returned.
JSON
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{
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"query": "dateTime:[2010-01-01 TO 2020-12-31]",
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"from": "0", // start with 0, then 50, 100, 150 and so on until no more AAERs are returned
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"size": "50",
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"sort": [{ "dateTime": { "order": "desc" } }]
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}
Response Structure - Search API
When the Search API locates matches within the AAER database, it returns a JSON response including two fields: total and data. The value field inside the total object indicates the total number of AAERs that match the search criteria, while the data field contains an array of AAER objects that match the query. The maximum number of AAERs inside the data array is determined by the size and limited to 50. Each AAER object comprises the following fields:
id(string): Unique system-internal identifier of the AAER. Example:dc5b96fb8b3c223b79d8181cab79a7cd.aaerNo(string): AAER release number. Example:AAER-44371.releaseNumbers(array of strings): Representing other release numbers associated with the AAER, such as litigation release numbers. Example:['33-11219', '34-98065', 'IA-6323].dateTime(date): Timestamp indicating the release date and time of the AAER. Example:2025-01-29T12:56:13-05:00.respondents(array of objects): List of respondents involved in the AAER.
Example:[{"name":"Jason M. Boucher, CPA","type":"individual"}]name(string): Name of the respondent. Example: "Wang, Jia Roger Qian, CPA".type(string): Type of the respondent. Example: "person" or "company".
urls(array of objects): Each object contains atypeand aurlfield. The types and their corresponding URLs include:- Primary Proceeding (always included):
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98103.pdf - Administrative Summary (optional):
https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-11209-s - SEC Complaint PDF (optional):
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-126.pdf - Judgement PDF (optional): For example, "Final Judgement - Jeffrey A. Hastings" might link to
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2023/judg25700-hastings.pdf - Order PDF (optional): For instance, "Order - Lori Hastings" could link to
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2023/order25700-hastings.pdf - Press Release:
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-265 - Administrative Proceedings Release:
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2022/34-94714.pdf - Litigation Release:
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2022/lr25364.htm
- Primary Proceeding (always included):
summary(string): A brief summary of the AAER. Example: "The SEC has instituted public administrative proceedings against ...".tags(array of strings): Tags describing the AAER. Example:["fraud", "misrepresentation"].entities(array of objects): Entities involved in the enforcement action. Thetickerandcikfields are optional and only populated if the entitynamematches a known public company.name(string): Name of the entity. Example: "GrubMarket, Inc.".type(string): Type of the entity. Example: "company", "individual", "other".role(string): Role of the entity in the AAER. Example: "respondent", "defendant", "plaintiff", "involved party", "employer", etc.cik(string, optional): Central Index Key of the entity. Example:1090727.ticker(string, optional): Ticker symbol of the entity. Example:UPS.
complaints(array of strings): SEC complaints associated with the AAER. Example:["UPS failed to adhere to the basic accounting principle of fair value, resulting in material misrepresentations to investors regarding its earnings and other reported items."]parallelActionsTakenBy(array of strings): List of other regulatory bodies or organizations that have taken parallel actions. Example:["Tokyo District Court"].hasAgreedToSettlement(boolean):trueif the respondent has agreed to a settlement,falseotherwise.hasAgreedToPayPenalty(boolean):trueif the respondent has agreed to pay a penalty,falseotherwise.penaltyAmounts(array of objects): List of penalties imposed on the respondents. Each object contains the following fields:penaltyAmount(string): Amount of the penalty. Example: "4000000".penaltyAmountText(string): Textual description of the penalty amount. Example: "$4 million".imposedOn(string): Entity on which the penalty is imposed. Example: "BIT Mining Ltd".
requestedRelief(array of strings): List of requested reliefs. Example:["disgorgement", "cease and desist order"]violatedSections(array of strings): List of violated securities laws or regulations. Example:["Section 30A of the Exchange Act", "Section 13(b)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act"]otherAgenciesInvolved(array of objects): List of other regulatory bodies or organizations involved in the enforcement action. This field is only populated if other agencies are involved. Each object contains the following fields:name(string): Name of the agency. Example: "Brazilian Ministerio Publico Federal"country(string): Country where the agency is located. Example: "Brazil"
Response Example
JSON
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{
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"total": {
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"value": 241,
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"relation": "eq"
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},
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"data": [
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{
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"id": "e9f5e13f8812a0cf9bc8ee69c132b8d9",
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"dateTime": "2025-01-17T08:47:55-05:00",
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"aaerNo": "AAER-4559",
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"releaseNo": [
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"34-102227"
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],
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"respondents": [
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{
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"name": "Celsius Holdings, Inc.",
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"type": "company"
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}
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],
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"respondentsText": "Celsius Holdings, Inc.",
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"urls": [
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{
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"type": "primary",
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"url": "https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2025/34-102227.pdf"
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},
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{
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"type": "Administrative Summary",
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"url": "https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/administrative-proceedings/34-102227-s"
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}
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],
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"summary": "The SEC has instituted cease-and-desist proceedings against Celsius Holdings, Inc. for violations related to SEC reporting, books and records, internal accounting controls, and disclosure controls and procedures, resulting in a $3 million civil penalty.",
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"tags": [
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"disclosure fraud",
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"accounting violations"
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],
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"entities": [
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{
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"name": "Celsius Holdings, Inc.",
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"type": "company",
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"role": "respondent",
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"cik": "1341766",
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"ticker": "CELH"
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}
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],
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"complaints": [
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"Celsius improperly accounted for stock-based compensation expenses, resulting in materially inaccurate and misleading financial statements.",
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"Celsius failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures for non-financial information.",
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"Celsius violated issuer reporting provisions and internal accounting controls provisions of the Exchange Act."
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],
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"parallelActionsTakenBy": [],
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"hasAgreedToSettlement": true,
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"hasAgreedToPayPenalty": true,
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"penaltyAmounts": [
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{
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"penaltyAmount": "3000000",
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"penaltyAmountText": "$3,000,000.00",
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"imposedOn": "Celsius Holdings, Inc."
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}
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],
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"requestedRelief": [
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"cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-11, 13a-13, and 13a-15 thereunder"
62
],
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"violatedSections": [
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"Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act",
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"Rules 12b-20, 13a-11, 13a-13, and 13a-15 under the Exchange Act"
66
],
67
"otherAgenciesInvolved": []
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},
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{
70
"id": "dc5b96fb8b3c223b79d8181cab79a7cd",
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"dateTime": "2023-09-01T11:06:57-04:00",
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"aaerNo": "AAER-4453",
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"releaseNo": [
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"34-98272",
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"IA-6393"
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],
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"respondents": [
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{
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"name": "SQN Capital Management, LLC",
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"type": "company"
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},
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{
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"name": "Jeremiah Silkowski",
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"type": "individual"
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}
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],
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"respondentsText": "SQN Capital Management, LLC and Jeremiah Silkowski",
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"urls": [
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{
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"type": "primary",
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"url": "https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98272.pdf"
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},
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{
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"type": "Administrative Summary",
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"url": "https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-98272-s"
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}
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],
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"summary": "The SEC has instituted administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings against SQN Capital Management, LLC and its CEO Jeremiah Silkowski for failing to distribute audited financial statements and violating the custody and compliance rules under the Advisers Act, resulting in a $200,000 penalty for SQN Capital and a $100,000 penalty for Silkowski.",
99
"tags": [
100
"compliance rule violation",
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"custody rule violation",
102
"reporting violations"
103
],
104
"entities": [
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{
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"name": "SQN Capital Management, LLC",
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"type": "company",
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"role": "respondent",
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"cik": "51762",
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"ticker": ""
111
},
112
{
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"name": "Jeremiah Silkowski",
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"type": "individual",
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"role": "respondent"
116
}
117
],
118
"complaints": [
119
"SQN Capital failed to timely distribute annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP to investors in two private and two public funds.",
120
"SQN Capital failed to adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Advisers Act.",
121
"Silkowski willfully aided and abetted and caused SQN Capital’s custody rule and compliance rule violations.",
122
"The two public funds failed to file annual and quarterly periodic reports with the Commission."
123
],
124
"parallelActionsTakenBy": [],
125
"hasAgreedToSettlement": true,
126
"hasAgreedToPayPenalty": true,
127
"penaltyAmounts": [
128
{
129
"penaltyAmount": "200000",
130
"penaltyAmountText": "$200,000",
131
"imposedOn": "SQN Capital Management, LLC"
132
},
133
{
134
"penaltyAmount": "100000",
135
"penaltyAmountText": "$100,000",
136
"imposedOn": "Jeremiah Silkowski"
137
}
138
],
139
"requestedRelief": [
140
"cease-and-desist order",
141
"censure",
142
"civil monetary penalties"
143
],
144
"violatedSections": [
145
"Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act",
146
"Rule 206(4)-2",
147
"Rule 206(4)-7",
148
"Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act",
149
"Rules 13a-1 and 13a-13"
150
],
151
"otherAgenciesInvolved": []
152
}
153
]
154
}
Bulk-Download AAERs
Two bulk-download APIs for AAER metadata and AAER documents are available.
Bulk-Download AAER Metadata
Download the entire database of AAER metadata (publication date, respondents, release numbers, URLs to documents) of all AAERs published from 1997 to present as a single JSON file.
Endpoint: GET https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/metadata/all.json
The JSON file mirrors the structure of the Search API response, but containing all AAERs instead of a filtered subset. The JSON file contains an array of AAER metadata objects with the following structure:
aaerNo: String indicating the AAER number. Example:AAER-44371releaseNumbers: Array of strings representing the release numbers associated with the AAER. Example:['33-11219', '34-98065', 'IA-6323]dateTime: Timestamp indicating the release date and time of the AAER. Example:2023-09-01T15:06:57Zrespondents: Array of strings listing the respondents involved in the AAER. Example:['Wang, Jia Roger Qian, CPA', 'Wang Certified Public Accountant, P.C.']urls: Array of objects, each containing atypeand aurl. The types and their corresponding URLs might include:- Primary Proceeding (always included):
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98103.pdf - Administrative Summary (optional):
https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-11209-s - SEC Complaint PDF (optional):
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-126.pdf - Judgement PDF (optional): For example, "Final Judgement - Jeffrey A. Hastings" might link to
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2023/judg25700-hastings.pdf - Order PDF (optional): For instance, "Order - Lori Hastings" could link to
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2023/order25700-hastings.pdf - Press Release:
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-265 - Administrative Proceedings Release:
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2022/34-94714.pdf - Litigation Release:
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2022/lr25364.htm
- Primary Proceeding (always included):
Example JSON file:
JSON
1
[
2
{
3
"dateTime": "2023-09-25T16:16:53Z",
4
"aaerNo": "AAER-4461",
5
"releaseNo": ["34-98499"],
6
"respondents": ["Michael D. Messina, CPA"],
7
"urls": [
8
{
9
"type": "primary",
10
"url": "https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98499.pdf"
11
},
12
{
13
"type": "Administrative Summary",
14
"url": "https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-98499-s"
15
}
16
]
17
}
18
// ... more AAER objects
19
]
Bulk-Download AAER Documents by Year
Download a collection of all AAER documents, including proceedings, summaries, judgments, and more. These documents are available in PDF, HTML, and their corresponding text versions. They are organized annually, packaged as compressed ZIP files and contain all AAERs published in the respective year.
Endpoint: GET https://api.sec-api.io/aaers/documents/{YEAR}.zip
Inside the ZIP file, you'll find distinct folders, each representing an individual AAER. Here's a breakdown of the contents and structure:
- Folder Naming: Each AAER has its designated folder, named using the format
/aaer-{aaerNo}. - Contents:
- Metadata: Each AAER folder contains a JSON file capturing its metadata.
- Original Documents: You'll find all relevant documents pertaining to the AAER, such as primary proceedings, administrative summaries, press releases, SEC complaints, judgments, litigation releases, and more. These are available in PDF and HTML formats, depending on how the SEC published the document. The HTML files mirror documents hosted as websites on SEC.gov.
- Text Versions: Every PDF and HTML document has a corresponding text file, making content easily accessible. These text files retain the original document's name but append a
.txtextension. For instance, the text counterpart ofaaer-3254.pdfwould beaaer-3254.pdf.txt.
Example structure of an unzipped ZIP file of AAERs published in 2022:
- ZIP file name:
2022.zip - Unzipped folder structure:
/aaer-3254/aaer-3254.json(metadata)aaer-3254.pdf(primary proceeding)aaer-3254.pdf.txt(primary proceeding converted to text)aaer-3254-administrative-summary.html(administrative summary)aaer-3254-administrative-summary.html.txt(administrative summary converted to text)aaer-3254-press-release.html(press release)aaer-3254-press-release.html.txt(press release converted to text)aaer-3254-sec-complaint.pdf(SEC complaint)aaer-3254-sec-complaint.pdf.txt(SEC complaint converted to text)aaer-3254-judgement.pdf(judgement)aaer-3254-judgement.pdf.txt(judgement converted to text)aaer-3254-litigation-release.html(litigation release)aaer-3254-litigation-release.html.txt(litigation release converted to text)
References
Research Papers
- The Financial and Market Effects of the SEC's Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases
- A textual analysis of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's accounting and auditing enforcement releases relating to the Sarbanes–Oxley Act
- Fraud detection in publicly traded U.S firms using Beetle Antennae Search: A machine learning approach
- Fraud Type and Auditor Litigation: An Analysis of SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases
- How Are Earnings Managed? Examples from Auditors
- Predicting Material Accounting Misstatements
- The effects of audit committee activity and independence on corporate fraud
- Undisclosed SEC Investigations
- What are You Saying? Using Topic to Detect Financial Misreporting