Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2008
Abstract
One of the important functions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("the SEC") is enforcing the securities laws and punishing violators. Collecting damages for defrauded investors was not, historically, an important part of the agency's mission; rather that was the function of private securities fraud class actions. Section 308 (the "Fair Fund provision") of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 gives the SEC a more prominent role in compensating investors and allows the agency, in some circumstances, to distribute civil penalties to defrauded investors. The SEC has established Fair Funds in a number of high-profile cases and has taken pride in the large amounts of money it has obtained for investors. Meanwhile, section 308 has become an instrument in the business community's campaign against private
securities fraud class actions.
This Article reviews the background of the SEC's disgorgement and penalty powers, the history and language of section 308, and SEC enforcement actions against corporations in financialfraud cases and then looks at the business community's reaction to section 308 and recent SEC enforcement actions. The Article concludes that the SEC's increased emphasis on section 308 could lead to a weakening of its effectiveness as an enforcement agency and further
erode support for private securities litigation-an unfortunate outcome for investors.
Recommended Citation
Black, Barbara, "Should the SEC Be a Collection Agency for Defrauded Investors?" (2008). Faculty Articles and Other Publications. 55.
https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/fac_pubs/55