''Gabelli v. SEC'', 568 U.S. 442 (2013), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which the Court ruled that the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

for filing civil penalty actions initiates when the offending act is committed or finished.. The

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

filed suit against Bruce Alpert and Marc Gabelli of Gabelli Funds, LLC, alleging the firm made secret agreements with Headstart Advisers Ltd concerning Headstart's investment in a mutual fund managed by Gabelli. Headstart realized large profits at the expense of Gabelli's remaining investors, and the SEC argued that Gabelli's actions violated the

Investment Advisers Act The Investment Advisers Act of 1940, codified at through , is a United States federal law that was created to monitor and regulate the activities of investment advisers (also spelled "advisors") as defined by the law. It is the primary source of r ...

. Gabelli and Alpert sought dismissal of the case, arguing the SEC lawsuit came after the five year statute of limitations expired. In response, the SEC argued that under the discovery rule, the statute had not expired when the case was filed. In a unanimous decision, Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

ruled against the federal government's argument that the discovery rule determined the statute of limitations for filing the fraud lawsuit. Roberts' opinion explained that the discovery rule, which starts the

once the plaintiff becomes aware of the fraud, applies only to victims of the fraud itself. Government regulatory agencies are subject to the standard rule, which initiates the standard of limitations upon the perpetration of the

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

. Under this earlier threshold, the SEC missed the five-year deadline to file suit against Gabelli. The Supreme Court's decision reversed the earlier decision of the

Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...

, and the case was remanded to the lower courts.

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Gabelli v. SEC'', {{Ussc, 568, 442, 2013, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/821431/gabelli-v-sec/ , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10959414279623128484 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/568/442/ , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/11-1274 , other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion) , other_url1 =https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/11-1274_aplc.pdf United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court Statutes of limitations 2013 in United States case law U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission litigation

See also

References

External links