The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution entitles a defendant to a jury trial when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to impose civil penalties for violations of the federal securities laws. The decision in SEC v. Jarkesy means that the SEC must file enforcement actions in federal court, rather than before an administrative law judge, when it seeks civil penalties for alleged securities fraud.
SCOTUS
Supreme Court Holds That Securities Fraud Statute Does Not Proscribe Pure Omissions
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the anti-fraud provision of the Securities Exchange Act does not prohibit “pure omissions,” but only false statements or misleading half-truths. The unanimous decision in Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. v. Moab Partners, L.P. (April 12, 2024) holds that § 10(b) of the Exchange Act and the SEC’s Rule 10b-5(b) require a statement that is false or misleading. A pure omission that does not render a statement false or misleading is not actionable, at least in private actions.
Second Circuit Holds That the Syndicated Term Loans in Kirschner Are Not Securities
On August 24, 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its much-anticipated decision in Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, holding that the syndicate term loans at issue were not securities. As noted in our earlier blog post, the SEC declined the court’s request to file an…
Supreme Court Holds that Constitutional Challenges to Administrative Agencies’ Structure Can Be Brought in District Court
The Supreme Court held today that constitutional challenges to administrative agencies’ structure can be brought in federal district court and need not be raised through an administrative proceeding with subsequent appellate review. The decision in Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (U.S. Apr. 14, 2023) – which involved challenges to two federal agencies’ use of Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) for enforcement proceedings – considered only the issue of where such challenges can be brought. The Court did not address substantive questions about whether the ALJ process or the agency structure itself is constitutional – hot topics that could come before the Court in other matters.
Supreme Court to Consider Securities Class Action Issue
On December 11, 2020, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in a shareholder securities litigation against Goldman Sachs.[1] On appeal, Goldman argues that federal securities law permits issuer defendants in purported class actions to rebut the presumption of reliance where the alleged misstatements are of such a generic…
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Indefinite Tolling of False Claims Act under Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act; Holds First-to-File Bar Only Applies to Pending Cases
Yesterday, in Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc., et al. v. United States ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. __ (2015), the Supreme Court settled two important questions under the False Claims Act (the FCA). In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Alito, the Court held: (1) the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) applies only to criminal actions, and thus the statute of limitations under the FCA is not tolled under the WSLA while the United States is at war; and (2) the FCA first-to-file bar prevents the filing of an FCA action only when a related action is pending, not when a related action has been filed but dismissed.