"Wolf of Wall Street" with Leonardo DiCaprio vividly shows wild west of pump and dump schemes in late 80s - early 90s. The movie is based on a true story of Jordan Belfort who finally went to jail. But today's SEC lost most of last teeth they have had in the 90s. I doubt anyone will go to prison for the modern day pump-and-dump and Ponzi schemes (Bernie Madoff was the last one).
The SEC didn't really lose its teeth, everyone else used all the prior court filings and outcomes as instruction manuals on how to accomplish the same things compliantly
Most of that time that just means a slightly longer disclaimer, or the timing of a transaction, or not talking about your awareness of a specific regulatory nuance