Sripetch v. SEC · ¶6

The SEC's disgorgement powers have a long and nuanced history. When Congress created the SEC in the 1930s, it did not authorize the Commission to seek monetary awards for violations of federal securities laws. Instead, “the only statutory remedy” the SEC could pursue was a judicial “injunction barring future violations of securities laws.” Kokesh v. SEC, 581 U. S. 455, 458 (2017). With time, that changed. In 1990, for example, Congress provided the Commission with “a full panoply” of additional enforcement tools, including the power to “seek monetary penalties” for certain violations. Id., at 459. But even then, nothing in statutory law expressly authorized the SEC to seek and receive a judicial order directing a defendant to disgorge his ill-gotten gains to wronged investors. See id., at 458–459.

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