Securities & Exchange Comm. v. Goble

The SEC brought a civil enforcement action against defendant after he orchestrated a plan to manipulate the amount of money his company was required to set aside to safeguard customer assets. Defendant was subsequently liable for committing securities fraud and on appeal, defendant challenged the district court's holding on liability and the propriety of the resulting injunction. After reviewing the record and having the benefit of oral argument, the court agreed with defendant that the facts as found by the district court did not support securities fraud liability and the court reversed the judgment on this claim. The court held, however, that it was clear from the district court's factual findings that defendant aided and abetted violations of the Securities Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. 78a et seq., so the court affirmed the judgment finding liability on these counts. Since the court reversed the district court's finding of securities fraud, the court vacated the portion of the injunction restraining defendant from violating section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The court also vacated the injunction barring defendant from the securities business for life. Defendant contended that the remaining portions of the injunctions were impermissible "obey-the-law" commands and the court agreed in part, vacating these paragraphs of the injunction. View "Securities & Exchange Comm. v. Goble" on Justia Law