SEC v. Kokesh

The Supreme Court of the United States has handed down a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in SEC v. Kokesh.  At issue was the statute of limitations in disgorgement actions by the SEC.  The Court held "Because SEC disgorgement operates as a penalty . . . , any claim for disgorgement in an SEC enforcement action must be commenced within five years of the date the claim accrued."

Notably, this case continues the trends by the Roberts Court of limited polarization and focusing on procedural issues in securities regulation matters.  These trends were discussed in my recent article, The Supreme Court as Museum Curator: Securities Regulation and the Roberts Court.

Information regarding the case is available on SCOTUSblog.  Professor Mike Koehler offers commentary on the implications of the opinion at his blog, FCPA Professor.