Since Trump’s Return, Undisclosed SEC Investigations Tracked by Disclosure Insight Are Down 70%

August 2026 marks the lowest number of confirmed, undisclosed SEC investigations we have ever tracked in our 26-year history. 

Our August 2^nd update to the DI Watch List has just 36 U.S.-registered companies with confirmed, undisclosed SEC investigations — down 70%, or 83 fewer, from the 119 we were tracking early in the Trump 47 term.  

Historically, we typically tracked about 80–100 undisclosed SEC probes.  The White House, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, and the SEC’s Republican-only Commission have made their priorities clear.

The Value of the DI Watch List Is Even Greater Now

The current DI Watch List is considerably smaller than at any time in our history. Yet, this adds greater significance to the companies that remain on it. 

Why is that?

In this environment, companies added to, or remaining on the DI Watch List are those with active-and-ongoing investigations, of course. But this is also in an environment where the SEC has clearly demonstrated it is being far more selective now in who it investigates.

To illustrate, among those companies that have disclosed SEC investigations, many of the matters under investigation are quite serious and, to our assessment, pose significant risk to investors. 

Best as we can tell, the dramatic drop in undisclosed SEC investigations is not a function of public companies having suddenly decided to disclose their SEC probes more than was the case in the past.  We see little indication of that.

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How Does Disclosure Insight Know a Public Company has an Undisclosed SEC Investigation?

When we alert you to existence of an undisclosed SEC probe, that means we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the public company in question and have a response, in black-and-white, on government letterhead that supports our statement. 

Early Signals®

The first indicator of an undisclosed SEC investigation at a public company comes in the form of a letter from the SEC's Office of FOIA Services in response to one of our requests. The letter cites the so-called "law enforcement exemption" of the FOIA as basis to block our access to the detailed records on the public company. 

We call this an early signal of a possible SEC investigation. We regularly publish a report listing these findings.

Confirmation of the Signal

Confirmation of that Early Signal, when it comes, is in the form of a response from the General Counsel of the SEC to an administrative appeal we filed on an earlier FOIA response. 

In both cases, Early Signal and confirmation of an active-and-ongoing probe, as a matter of law, the SEC is acknowledging some sort of investigative activity.   

At both the Early Signal and the Confirmation stages, the SEC will not yet disclose the details of the investigative activity blocking our access to records.  

If we have a response from the SEC that makes clear there is ongoing enforcement activity at a public company, and we can find no clear disclosures of SEC investigative activity made by that same company, we then add it to the DI Watch List of Companies with Confirmed, Undisclosed SEC Investigations. 

The paper trail supporting our work is fully documented. 

FOIA requests are created and filed solely by us.  Responses from the government to our requests are addressed and sent directly to us.  Each year we file about 2,500 FOIA requests and hundreds of administrative appeals with the SEC and, sometimes, other agencies. We’ve been doing this since the year 2000. 

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All-access clients are invited to contact us anytime to discuss any company.

Disclosure Insight research provides data, commentary, and analysis on public company interactions with investors and with the SEC.   Our work is heavily reliant on company disclosures and our expertise in using the Freedom of Information Act.This report does not constitute investment advice or an offering to buy, sell or recommend any securities. The information herein is distributed purely as a newsworthy event. All information contained herein is derived from publicly-available disclosures as made by the companies cited in this report, and/or documents obtained from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Important:  The SEC reminds us that its assertion of the law enforcement exemption should not be construed as an indication by the Commission or its staff that any violations of law have occurred with respect to any person, entity, or security. 

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