But the report, by the S.E.C. inspector general, found no evidence that any of the investigations were harmed as a result.

The inspector general, H, David Kotz, said the agency violated federal rules by giving incomplete information to the National Archives last year about the records. The S.E.C. failed to tell officials at the archives that the agency’s 20-year policy had been to discard all documents in closed inquiries that did not become formal investigations, the report says.

The report comes after accusations from an S.E.C. enforcement lawyer, who said the agency improperly destroyed documents related to thousands of preliminary inquiries of big Wall Street banks, Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and other cases.

The report stopped short of saying no harm was done by the destruction of records. Mr. Kotz said he did not make “an exhaustive audit or review” of the potential impact.

Mr. Kotz said he was referring the matter to the agency’s enforcement director for instruction or counseling of the senior enforcement officials who dealt with the National Archives.

Darcy Flynn, the S.E.C. enforcement lawyer, has claimed that more than 9,000 records related to preliminary investigations were destroyed. Ms. Flynn said they included inquiries into Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Mr. Madoff.

Mr. Kotz’s report mentions documents related to Lehman Brothers and Mr. Madoff. It says that from 1992 through July 2010, 10,468 preliminary inquiries were closed without developing into formal investigations.

The S.E.C. acknowledged in September that some documents were probably destroyed under an agency policy that was changed last year. But the S.E.C. said it did not believe that any current or future investigations were harmed by the policy, which allowed documents to be discarded in cases that were closed when staff members decided a formal investigation was not warranted.

The current policy requires all documents to be kept, whether they are part of a preliminary inquiry that is closed or a formal investigation.

An S.E.C. spokesman, John Nester, said Tuesday that the agency was pleased that Mr. Kotz’s review “found no evidence of any improper motive on the part of current or former S.E.C. staff” or of harm to investigations.

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