Paul Ferrer—Senior Attorney

         The United States Supreme Court has limited one of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) major tools for penalizing securities fraud by ruling that the Seventh Amendment requires a jury trial when the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant. See SEC v. Jarkesy, 144 S. Ct. 2117 (2024). And the decision may have much more far-reaching implications by calling into question the ability of other government agencies to seek civil penalties.

            Three of the primary federal statutes regulating the registration and trading of securities—the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940—all contain antifraud provisions that target the same basic behavior: misrepresenting or concealing facts that would be material to an investor’s decision. These statutes are enforced by the SEC, which may bring an enforcement action either (1) in its own forum, an administrative proceeding, or (2) in a federal court action. In federal court, a federal judge presides, a jury decides the facts, proceedings are governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence, and discovery is had under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. By contrast, when the SEC adjudicates the matter in-house, its Division of Enforcement prosecutes the case and the SEC presides and finds the facts, although the SEC may delegate its role as judge and fact finder to one of its administrative law judges (ALJs). The SEC or its ALJ decides discovery disputes and determines the scope and form of permissible evidence pursuant to the SEC’s own Rules of Practice. The SEC can, but does not have to, review the ALJ’s findings and conclusions. Judicial review is available but is deferential.