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In the end, although the oral argument will be telling, the Supreme Court seems unlikely to conclude that the SEC can continue to obtain disgorgement, in its current form, when the SEC sues a defendant in court. It is theoretically possible that the Court could cut the disgorgement remedy back without eliminating it entirely—for instance, […]
Next week’s argument in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission will take the justices through familiar ground, as they consider once again the boundaries of the broad and multifarious forms of relief available in litigation enforcing the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This particular case involves Section 21 of […]
The SEC’s ability to recover ill-gotten gains from wrongdoers is “critical” to joint securities enforcement efforts, attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia told the U.S. Supreme Court in a filing. The bipartisan group of state law enforcement officials urged the court Tuesday to side with the Securities and Exchange Commission when […]
This term, the Supreme Court will consider whether a federal court can order disgorgement in an enforcement action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Liu v. SEC, No. 18-1501. Under a disgorgement order, defendants are required to turn over gains derived from violating the federal securities laws. In Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S.Ct. 1635 […]
The issue before the Supreme Court will be whether a District Court can order a defendant to repay money obtained by fraud or trading on confidential information, or whether it is a penalty beyond the “equitable” power of the courts to require. The S.E.C. is sure to argue that a defendant who engages in fraud […]
On November 1, 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission (18-1501). Liu seeks review of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) authority to pursue disgorgement as a form of equitable relief for federal securities law violations in district court proceedings, an issue cast into doubt by the Supreme […]
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that may well have a very significant impact on the remedies available in Commission enforcement actions: Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 18-1501 (Cert. granted Nov. 1, 2019). The question the Court agreed to resolve is: “Whether the Securities and Exchange Commission may seek and obtain […]
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider stripping the Securities and Exchange Commission of its power to recoup illegal profits from wrongdoers, taking up a challenge to one of the agency’s most potent legal weapons. The appeal by Charles Liu and Xin Wang contends that “disgorgement” isn’t one of the remedies Congress has authorized the […]
While the J.P. Morgan decision will not be the final word on the insurability of disgorgement, the policy language at issue is commonplace and insurers certainly will cite the case to support denials of coverage. Additionally, courts in a number of states have held that fines and penalties are not insurable as a matter of […]
Anyway some lawyers read the Kokesh opinion in that particular way and brought this class-action lawsuit against the SEC a couple of weeks ago. Delightfully the class of victims/plaintiffs in the lawsuit is securities fraudsters: Specifically, it’s “all persons or entities from whom the SEC has collected, during the period from October 26, 2011 to the present, purported ‘disgorgement,’” […]