Commission Statement Regarding Decision in Bartko v. SEC

In its January 17, 2017 decision in Bartko v. SEC (No. 14-1070), the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted in part a petition for review of a Commission order imposing sanctions for violations of the securities laws.  The court vacated the portion of the order imposing collateral bars against Bartko, who was associated only with a broker-dealer at the time of his securities law violations, from association with investment advisers, municipal securities dealers, transfer agents, municipal advisors, and nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.  The court held that the order’s imposition of those collateral bars was an impermissibly retroactive application of the Dodd-Frank Act, which first authorized the Commission to impose such collateral bars.  Because all of Bartko’s violative conduct pre-dated the Dodd-Frank Act’s July 22, 2010, effective date, the court held that applying those provisions to such conduct would be impermissibly retroactive.  The Commission has determined not to seek further review of that decision.

If you are the subject of a Commission order imposing a collateral bar from associating in any capacity in the securities industry (broker-dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, transfer agent, municipal advisor, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization) and you believe that the Bartko decision affects the bar(s) in your case because all of the conduct relevant to such bar(s) occurred before July 22, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act’s effective date, you may request that the Commission issue an order vacating the bar(s) by completing the form available at this link:https://www.sec.gov/Article/collateral-bars-form.pdf and submitting the form to the Commission as the form directs.  This process applies only to collateral bars, which are bars that prohibit you from associating in a capacity in the securities industry with which you were not associated or were not attempting to associate at the time of your securities law violations.  If the Commission grants you relief, any other bars or suspension from association that were imposed will remain in force.  In addition, if you attempt to associate in a new capacity in the securities industry in the future, the Commission may bring a separate follow-on proceeding to determine whether to impose any remedial sanctions under existing law.

This statement does not constitute a decision by the Commission on any particular case or request.