Notes on Search Fields
The following notes provide clarification on the search fields used in the Securities Enforcement Empirical Database.
Defendant Name
The SEED database records defendant names as listed in each SEC document. When variants of a defendant name appear in the document corpus, the SEED database includes all alternative spellings and punctuations. The Defendant Name search field considers all recorded variants.
Defendant Type(s)
The Defendant Type drop-down menu allows SEC actions/defendants to be filtered based on the defendant’s classification (as a Public Company or a Subsidiary of Public Company) as of the date the enforcement action was initiated. If neither defendant type is selected, the search will be run on all SEED defendants (i.e. both Public Companies and Subsidiaries of Public Companies) by default.
Public Company Parent Name
The Public Company Parent Name search field will return actions/defendants classified as subsidiaries of the target parent company as of the date the enforcement action was initiated. When variants of a parent company name appear as defendants in the SEED database, the Public Company Parent Name search field considers all recorded variants.
Allegation Type(s)
The Allegation Type drop-down menu allows SEC actions/defendants to be filtered based on the SEC’s primary allegation against the defendant. Since each action can have only a single allegation type, simultaneously selecting multiple allegations types from the drop-down menu returns results for actions categorized as any one of the selected types. For example, if Broker Dealer and Insider Trading are both selected, the search will return results where the primary allegations involved either Broker Dealer OR Insider Trading allegations. If no allegations types are selected, the search will be run on all allegation types by default.
The SIC Code search field allows for flexible searches of 4-digiti numeric SIC codes based the defendant’s (or Public Company Parent’s) SIC code as of the date the enforcement action was initiated. The number of SIC Code digits specified determines the range of the search. For example, typing “6” into the search field will filter the results to all SIC codes that begin with a 6 (i.e. the range of SIC codes from 6000 to 6999 inclusive). Therefore, it is important to enter leading zeroes when searching for defendants in the Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing industries (corresponding to SIC codes 0100 to 0999).
Calendar Year of First Document and Calendar Year of First Resolution
The Calendar Year of First Document and Calendar Year of First Resolution search fields will return SEC actions/defendants based on the calendar year entered. For example, if 2010 to 2011 is entered for Calendar Year of First Document, the search will return results where the date of the first document in SEED is during the period January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2011. If either a lower or upper bound Calendar Year of First Resolution is entered, only actions with an associated resolution will be returned.
Total Penalty and Disgorgement
If no dialog boxes are checked, the Total Penalty and Disgorgement search field considers only recorded Total Penalty and Disgorgement amounts for which defendants are individually liable, i.e. civil penalties, disgorgement amounts, prejudgment interest, and other penalty amounts explicitly reported as total amounts in the associated SEC document. If multiple Total Penalty and Disgorgement are reported for a defendant within the same action, i.e. in different SEC documents for the same action, the Total Penalty and Disgorgement from the most recent SEC document is used.
If the “Include Shared Resolutions” dialog box is checked, the search tool will also consider Total Penalty and Disgorgement amounts that are shared between multiple defendants. The Shared Total Penalty and Disgorgement is used for each specific defendant (together with any defendant-specific Total Penalty and Disgorgement amount) and the SEED database does not allocate the shared amount among different defendants involved in the action.
If either a lower or upper bound Total Penalty and Disgorgement amount is entered, only actions with an associated amount within the specified range will be returned. If both Total Penalty and Disgorgement search fields are left blank, results will be returned based on all other search criteria regardless of the existence of a Total Penalty and Disgorgement amount.
Multiple Search Criteria
Unless otherwise noted above, specifying multiple search criteria narrows the search. An action/defendant must meet all the specified criteria to be returned.