On June 27, 2024, in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, the Supreme Court held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or the Commission) administrative process for adjudicating fraud-based enforcement...more
7/19/2024
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Jury Trial ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Seventh Amendment
On June 10, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Facebook, Inc. v. Amalgamated Bank to review a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that Facebook could be held liable under Section 10(b) and Rule...more
On April 12, a unanimous Supreme Court held in Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. v. Moab Partners, L.P. that material omissions are actionable under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and its enabling SEC Rule 10b-5 only if the...more
4/23/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Macquarie Infrastructure Corp v Moab Partners LP ,
Omissions ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations
On Sept. 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. v. Moab Partners, L.P. to review a decision by the Second Circuit reviving an investor lawsuit alleging Section 10(b) and Rule...more
On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy to review a decision by the Fifth Circuit rejecting key aspects of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or the...more
7/10/2023
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Appeals ,
Article II ,
Certiorari ,
PCAOB ,
Removal For-Cause ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Seventh Amendment
In Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani,1 the Supreme Court on June 1, 2023, unanimously held that even in a case involving direct listing of both registered and unregistered securities, to state a claim under Section 11(a) of...more
On April 14, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in two related cases, Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC (No. 21-86) and SEC v. Cochran (No. 21-1239), holding that respondents may challenge the constitutionality of...more
On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), that the Clean Air Act did not clearly authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create the...more
7/12/2022
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Power Plants ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
West Virginia v EPA
This alert addresses proceedings in two SEC securities enforcement actions emanating out of the Fifth Circuit. Both pose issues relating to the SEC’s power to bring enforcement proceedings in front of in-house administrative...more
On Nov. 23, the New York Court of Appeals held in a 6-1 ruling that an investment firm’s $140 million disgorgement payment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was not a “penalt[y] imposed by law” under the firm’s...more
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision in TransUnion v. Ramirez that clarified the injury-in-fact plaintiffs must show to have standing to assert statutory privacy rights in federal court. This follows...more
7/14/2021
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation of Powers ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
TransUnion ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez
On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. et al. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System et al. The Court held that in ruling on class certification in a securities action,...more
6/25/2021
/ Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v Goldman Sachs Group ,
Basic v Levinson ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Proof ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Investors ,
Presumption of Reliance ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders
On June 3, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in Van Buren v. United States, narrowing the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). In resolving a circuit split in favor of a limited interpretation of the...more
On Dec. 11, 2020, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, et al. v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., to review a decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upholding certification of an...more
12/17/2020
/ Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v Goldman Sachs Group ,
Basic v Levinson ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Proof ,
Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Investors ,
Presumption of Reliance ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders
On May 7, 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions of two public officials charged in the “Bridgegate” political corruption scandal. ...more
5/13/2020
/ Appeals ,
Bridgegate ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Federal-Program Fraud ,
Governor Christie ,
Intent to Obtain Money or Property ,
Kelly v United States ,
Political Scandals ,
Public Officials ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Wire Fraud
On April 20, the Supreme Court agreed to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in United States v. Van Buren, which broadly interpreted the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the main federal anti-hacking statute, as...more
In its 2011 Janus decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that SEC Rule 10b-5 imposes liability for a false statement in connection with a securities transaction only on the “maker” of the statement, the “person or entity with...more
4/3/2019
/ Appeals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Fines ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Investment Banks ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Material Dissemination ,
Misleading Statements ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Suspensions
On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court in Raymond J. Lucia, et al. v. SEC, held that the SEC’s administrative law judges are “Officers of the United States” whose appointment must comport with the requirements of the...more
6/29/2018
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Officers of the United States ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Trial Judges (STJs)
In Lagos v. United States, decided on May 29, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that restitution orders under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA) are limited to fees and expenses incurred during...more
6/6/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Crime Victims ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Government Investigations ,
Internal Investigations ,
Lagos v United States ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Mandatory Victim's Restitution Act ,
Restitution ,
SCOTUS ,
Wire Fraud
The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD Act) was recently signed into law as part of the omnibus appropriations bill. ...more
5/1/2018
/ CLOUD Act ,
Cloud Storage ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Dismissals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
International Litigation ,
Mootness ,
SCOTUS ,
Search Warrant ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Subpoenas ,
US v Microsoft
In Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, No. 15-1439, decided on March 20, 2018, the Supreme Court unanimously held that class actions based solely on the Securities Act of 1933 (33 Act) may be brought in...more
4/3/2018
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Jurisdiction ,
PSLRA ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
SLUSA ,
State Law Claims
On June 27, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cyan Inc. et al. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund et al., agreeing to weigh in on whether state courts have jurisdiction to hear class action lawsuits brought...more
7/6/2017
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Jurisdiction ,
PSLRA ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Split of Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
In a pair of decisions issued on June 5, the Supreme Court sharply curtailed the scope of financial sanctions available in civil securities enforcement and criminal drug trafficking cases. In addition to the results, which...more
6/9/2017
/ Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forfeiture ,
Forfeiture Statutes ,
Honeycutt v. United States ,
Investment Management ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Misappropriation ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Statute of Limitations ,
White Collar Crimes