World News | Supreme Court Rules SEC Can Recoup Money in Fraud Cases
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The Supreme Court on Monday preserved an important tool used by securities regulators to recoup ill-gotten gains in fraud cases.
Washington, Jun 22 (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday preserved an important tool used by securities regulators to recoup ill-gotten gains in fraud cases.
By an 8-1 vote, the justices ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission can seek to recover the money through a process called disgorgement. Last year, the SEC obtained USD 3.2 billion in repayment of profits from people who have been found to violate securities law.
"The Court holds today that a disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer's net profits and is awarded for victims is equitable relief permissible" under federal law, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court.
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.
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The Supreme Court in 2017 unanimously limited the SEC's ability to go after profits where alleged fraud has been going on for years before authorities file charges.
That case left open the question the high court answered Monday, that courts have the authority to order disgorgement of profits. The SEC has continued to aggressively pursue defendants' profits in fraud cases. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)