WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Monday that it suspended trading in the securities of 61 so-called empty shell companies, the second- largest trading suspension in the agency's history.

These empty shell companies are delinquent in their public filings, seemingly no longer in business based on an analysis by the SEC, and have great potential to be hijacked by fraudsters, the SEC said in a statement.

"Stock manipulators crave empty shell companies that they can use to conduct pump-and-dump schemes and line their pockets with illicit trading profits by taking advantage of unsuspecting investors," said Andrew Ceresney, co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "We will aggressively suspend trading in such empty shells to take away a tool of their trade and help rid our markets of fraud."

Last year, the SEC suspended trading in a record 379 companies in a single day, part of a crackdown on empty shell companies before they could be manipulated for fraudulent activities.