The SEC stepped up its enforcement game in the fiscal year 2007. SEC enforcement chief Linda Thomsen told a law conference in New York that the regulatory agency filed 656 cases alleging securities law violations as of September 30, this is up from 574 cases for fiscal year 2006, Bloomberg reports. Thomsen attributed the increased case load to a rise in prosecutions of back-dating options grants. The number of cases can also be attributed to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, according to Thomsen, which made it easier for regulators to hold company executives responsible for statements made to investors.  

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