Supreme Court limits SEC's power to recover ill-gotten gains

[Calista241]

Source: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday scaled back the Securities and Exchange Commission's power to recover ill-gotten profits from defendants' misconduct, handing Wall Street firms a victory and dealing another blow to the regulator's enforcement powers.

In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the SEC's recovery remedy known as "disgorgement" is subject to a five-year statute of limitations. The justices sided with New Mexico-based investment adviser Charles Kokesh, who previously was ordered by a judge to pay $2.4 million in penalties plus $34.9 million in disgorgement of illegal profits after the SEC sued him.

The decision marked the second time since 2013 that the Supreme Court has reined in the SEC's enforcement powers. In the prior case, called Gabelli v. SEC, the justices unanimously ruled that civil monetary penalties are also subject to a five-year time bar.

The ruling represented a major victory for Wall Street firms, whose Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association trade group had urged the justices to curb the SEC's powers in order to provide more certainty and predictability to the enforcement process.

Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN18W1UQ

[angrychair]

1. What the serious fuck

So you can steal billions of dollars and as long as you avoid be caught for 5 years you get to keep it???

But a poor person can can be chased for literally their entire life to pay their student loan debt??

Fuck. This. Country.

[JudyM]

3. Worse, you can be caught within 5 years but if the SEC can't bring the enforcement action by then,

you get to keep it all.

"Nick Morgan, a Los Angeles-based lawyer with the Paul Hastings law firm who represents clients being investigated by the SEC, said the ruling will especially affect complicated cases that require more time for the SEC to investigate.

"For the more complex cases, this will be a sea change for them, they will have to move more quickly," Morgan said."

Especially with the ongoing slashing of regulatory enforcement/budgets, white collar criminals have much more incentive to cook the books ... and lie to investigators. Even a fairly straightforward case can take over a year to put together and file in court...

[Calista241]

5. The lower court found that disgorgement was neither a penalty nor a forfeiture

Which would be subject to the statute of limitations. The Supreme Court's ruling here says that you can't get around the statute of limitations by calling it a disgorgement.

[melm00se]

8. remember

the Court are fools when disagreed with but unassailable paragons of Truth and Justice when agreed with.

[7962]

2. So Congress should pass a law to change that. fat chance, but thats the next step. nt

[Ohioblue22]

4. 9-0 lol

[Midnight Writer]

6. Did Putin hack the vote?

[mr_lebowski]

7. Meanwhile the Cops can find a bag of meth in a kids room and confiscate the parent's house ...

Put them on the street, sell the house, and pocket the profits, and there's sweet FA the parents can do about it.

Or they can pull you over, ask if you have cash, and then if it's a significant amount, just take it from you under the guise that you must have it for illegal purposes.

Neither of these ever requires fucking CONVICTION. Civil Forfeiture laws are a complete travesty of justice.

Meanwhile, rich bastards on Wall Street can rip off millions to billions, and if they avoid their case finishing trial for 5 years, apparently they not only never get their ill-gotten gains taken away, but never even have to pay a penny back even if they're found guilty of massive fraud or theft.

One set of rules for the plebes, another for the aristocracy. Plebes can get their shit confiscated on the spot by local-yokel dickhead cops, with no recourse, and no conviction. Yet the rich aristocrats are even 'above' the Feds powers to go after their profits for their crimes ... even when CONVICTED.

Murka ... you GOTTA LOVE IT.