​​“It’s disturbing,” David Sklansky, a Stanford University law professor and former Assistant District Attorney, told Market Watch last year.

“It’s a matter of concern that federal prosecutions of white-collar fraud have declined so precipitously.”

The decline in prosecutions may indicate the priorities of the federal government: since 2001, resources have been diverted toward anti-terrorism and immigration cases, potentially straining the government’s ability to prosecute white-collar crime, said Sklansky, who added that he trusts TRAC’s data analysis.