On June 26, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) published new reports and datasets, offering valuable insights into broker-dealers, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and business development companies (BDCs). These releases aim to boost transparency and deepen understanding of market dynamics. Here’s a breakdown of the key findings.
Broker-Dealer Activity: A Decade of Trends
The SEC’s broker-dealer report covers data from 2010 to 2024, providing a comprehensive look at the industry. It includes detailed analyses of:
- Industry Structure: How broker-dealers are organized and operate.
- Financial Metrics: Key performance indicators, such as revenue and profitability.
- Activity Trends: Patterns in trading, client services, and other core functions.
This data offers investors and analysts a clearer picture of the broker-dealer landscape, highlighting shifts and trends over the past decade.
Mergers and Acquisitions: Cyclical Patterns and Deal Insights
The M&A dataset reveals how deal activity fluctuates with market performance. Key highlights include:
- Deal Values: The average M&A deal value is $3.5 billion, with a median of $0.5 billion.
- Company Sizes: Acquirers typically have $40 billion in assets (median $7 billion), while targets average $5 billion (median $1 billion).
- Industry and Geography: About 75% of deals involve companies in the same industry, and one-third occur between firms in the same state.
These insights help stakeholders understand the strategic and economic factors driving M&A activity.
Business Development Companies: Enhanced Data Access
The BDC dataset provides public access to filings, enabling deeper analysis of these investment vehicles. This move supports greater scrutiny and understanding of BDCs, which are critical for financing small and mid-sized businesses.
Why This Matters
As Acting Chief Economist Robert Fisher noted, these reports and datasets are designed to enhance market transparency. By making this information publicly available, the SEC empowers investors, analysts, and policymakers to make informed decisions based on robust data.
For more details, visit the SEC’s official release.
Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.
