The SEC stepped up its attack on the zombies this year, linking them to several types of investor scams. About 1,200 companies are delinquent by more than a year, according to the SEC. But it takes time and effort for the SEC to stop the trading in these companies’ shares, even if they are on regulators’ radar.
The agency has “insufficient resources to get to all of them,” so it prioritizes on the basis of the threat to investors, giving highest priority to cases in which fraud appears ongoing or imminent, said SEC spokesman John Nester.