Taking on SEC’s Calculations of Civil Penalties; SEC Fails to Hand Records After Staff Accessed Docs

Amicus Brief Takes on SEC’s Arbitrary Calculations of Civil Penalties in Enforcement Cases

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced record-breaking enforcement results, boasting a staggering $4.2 billion in civil penalties imposed during just the past fiscal year—the agency’s “highest on record.” It did so by using putatively “civil” law enforcement powers to seek and impose severe financial penalties—calculated using arbitrary and inconsistent multipliers—against American citizens without due process and procedural protections. NCLA has filed an amicus brief in SEC v. Murphy urging the 9th Cir. to bring desperately needed consistency, clarity, and discipline to the calculation of civil penalties in enforcement cases prosecuted by the SEC.

Mark interviews NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan on NCLA’s amicus brief opposing SEC’s enforcement penalty multipliers.

SEC Fails to Provide Records After Enforcement Staff Illegally Accessed Documents

After submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the SEC, NCLA has filed a Complaint alleging that the agency is dragging its feet in providing access to records concerning “a control deficiency,” where SEC enforcement staff illegally downloaded and gained access to privileged adjudicative documents. The agency has admitted that this breach occurred in two major cases challenging the constitutionality of SEC’s administrative proceedings, SEC v. Cochran and Jarkesy v. SEC.

Mark interviews NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little on the FOIA case against SEC.