SEC v. Crawford

The SEC filed suit against Crawford for acting as unregistered brokers in violation of section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78o(a). The district court granted the SEC summary judgment, permanently enjoined Crawford, and ordered disgorgement. The Supreme Court announced in Kokesh v. SEC, No. 16-529, slip op. at 11 (U.S. June 5, 2017), that disgorgement, as it is applied in SEC enforcement proceedings, operates as a penalty under 28 U.S.C. 2462. Because any claim for disgorgement in an SEC enforcement action must be commenced within five years of the date the claim accrued, the SEC concedes that section 2462 barred it from seeking disgorgement. Therefore, the Eighth Circuit vacated the disgorgement order. The court also held that the district court did not err in finding section 2462 did not bar the SEC's suit for the injunction, and the district court did not err in rejecting Crawford's finder exception or finder defense. Accordingly, the court affirmed in all other respects. View "SEC v. Crawford" on Justia Law