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 ratings 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.
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