On June 22, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Liu v. SEC that disgorgement is an available remedy under the securities laws. WLF submitted an amicus brief arguing to the contrary. Asking the Court to overturn a $27 million disgorgement judgment, WLF argued that separation-of-powers principles require that federal agencies be limited to the enforcement powers expressly granted to them by Congress. WLF contended that Congress has not authorized the SEC to engage in “double dipping” by supplementing authorized penalties with a non-statutory disgorgement award. Although the Court concluded that disgorgement is in fact statutorily authorized, it remanded the case for further proceedings on whether the award here went beyond the proper boundaries of a disgorgement award.
Documents:
