While there are crickets at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a Commissioner at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision this week in SEC v. Jarkesy.
CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham has issued the following statement on the ruling:
“As I’ve said before, ‘administrative proceedings, where the agency is the prosecutor, judge, and jury, lack the checks-and-balances imposed by separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of government to ensure a fair hearing and due process.’ The Court’s opinion explicitly recognizes this truism, and reinforces the law of the land. There’s more work to be done at the Commission to ensure that our adjudications and settlements can withstand scrutiny, particularly when they deprive others of property without appropriate due process and in violation of the Constitution. I’ll continue pushing to bring greater accountability and transparency to our administrative proceedings so that our stakeholders have the utmost confidence in the CFTC’s actions to promote safe and fair markets.”
While insiders believe this will have a dramatic impact on the SEC’s enforcement actions as a jury may now be involved in the decisions, a new level of due process will now be part of lawsuits filed by the SEC.
