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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

Supreme Court Ruling Means the SEC Must Move Quickly to Seek Civil Penalties Related to the Financial Crisis

28 February 2013

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court largely closed the door on the federal government’s ability to pursue monetary penalties in civil enforcement actions involving conduct that is more than five years old.  The Court’s decision in Gabelli et al. v. SEC rejected the application of the “discovery rule” to trigger the statute of limitations in civil fraud enforcement actions brought by the government.  As a practical matter, the decision should put pressure on the government to wrap up this year many of its investigations related to the financial crisis.

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