To assess the Trump administration’s record in punishing corporate malfeasance during its first 20 months compared with the final 20 months of the Obama administration, The New York Times analyzed thousands of actions filed by the two most powerful agencies that police this arena: the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.

The methodologies used by The Times were reviewed by academic and legal experts who regularly track the activities of the two agencies, including former employees at both the S.E.C. and the Justice Department during Republican and Democratic administrations.

The S.E.C.

The Times created a database of enforcement actions filed during the 40 months. The database covered the 2,158 stand-alone enforcement actions initiated from May 18, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2018, the end of the federal government’s most recent fiscal year. The case list was compiled before the release on Friday of the S.E.C.’s annual enforcement report.

The Times also tagged cases involving public-company defendants and banks as a measure of major cases against prominent defendants.