Sacks v. SEC

648 F.3d 945, 2011 WL 3437088
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedAugust 8, 2011
Docket07-74647
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 648 F.3d 945 (Sacks v. SEC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sacks v. SEC, 648 F.3d 945, 2011 WL 3437088 (9th Cir. 2011).

Opinion

648 F.3d 945 (2011)

Richard L. SACKS, Petitioner,
v.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Respondent.

No. 07-74647.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted November 30, 2010.
Filed February 22, 2011.
Amended August 8, 2011.

*946 Timothy A. Canning, Arcata, California, for the petitioner.

Brian G. Cartwright, General Counsel, Andrew N. Vollmer, Deputy General Counsel, Jacob H. Stillman, Solicitor, Mark Pennington, Assistant General Counsel, Washington, D.C., for the respondent.

*947 Before: MARY M. SCHROEDER, SIDNEY R. THOMAS, and RONALD M. GOULD, Circuit Judges.

ORDER

The opinion is amended as follows:

1. Page 2745 [635 F.3d at 1123], line 30, to Page 2746 [635 F.3d at 1123-24], line 16. Delete:

Where Congress has enacted a special statutory review process for administrative action, that process applies to the exclusion of the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") or other general exhaustion principles. See 5 U.S.C. § 703; Bowen v. Massachusetts, 487 U.S. 879, 903, 108 S.Ct. 2722, 101 L.Ed.2d 749 (1988); Steadman v. SEC, 450 U.S. 91, 105, 101 S.Ct. 999, 67 L.Ed.2d 69 (1981) ("[T]he general provisions of the APA are applicable only when Congress has not intended that a different standard be used in the administration of a specific statute." (Powell, J., concurring)); W. Watersheds Project v. Kraayenbrink, 632 F.3d 472, 495-96 (9th Cir.2011) (citing Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 164, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997)); Turtle Island Restoration Network v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 438 F.3d 937, 947 (9th Cir.2006). With respect to exhaustion, specifically, the United States Supreme Court has held:
"[A]ppropriate deference to Congress' power to prescribe the basic procedural scheme under which a claim may be heard in a federal court requires fashioning of exhaustion principles in a manner consistent with congressional intent and any applicable statutory scheme."
Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137, 153, 113 S.Ct. 2539, 125 L.Ed.2d 113 (1993) (quoting McCarthy v. Madigan, 503 U.S. 140, 144, 112 S.Ct. 1081, 117 L.Ed.2d 291 (1992)).

2. Page 2749 [635 F.3d at 1124-25], line 10 to line 18, including footnote 4. Replace:

However, the regulation does not apply here because 15 U.S.C. § 78y sets out the exclusive procedure for judicial review of rules that are proposed by self-regulating organizations and adopted by the SEC under § 78s. See Bowen, 487 U.S. at 903, 108 S.Ct. 2722; Steadman, 450 U.S. at 105, 101 S.Ct. 999; W. Watersheds Project, 632 F.3d at 495-96. As a result, neither the APA nor a regulation of general applicability promulgated under the APA—such as 17 C.F.R. § 201.430(c)—applies here.[4]
* * *

With:

However, as we have explained, 15 U.S.C. § 78y(c)(1) requires only that a petitioner raise his objection during the rule-making process. Because the additional requirement in 17 C.F.R. § 201.430(c) conflicts with the more lenient requirement in § 78y(c)(1), the regulation does not apply. See United States v. Doe, 701 F.2d 819, 823 (9th Cir.1983) ("Where an administrative regulation conflicts with a statute, the statute controls.").

3. Page 2749 [635 F.3d at 1124-25], line 20, to Page 2750 [635 F.3d at 1125-26], line 15. Delete:

Of course, nothing in our decision precludes 17 C.F.R. § 201.430(c) from being applied in the absence of a special statutory review process. As the Second Circuit explained:
To be sure, [15 U.S.C. § 78y] provides for judicial review of rules promulgated *948 pursuant to §§ 78f, 78i(h)(2), 78k, 78k-1, 78o(c)(5) or (6), 78o-3, 78q, 78q-1, or 78s of Title 15. This judicial review provision makes no mention, however, of rules promulgated pursuant to [other sections of the Exchange Act]. Nevertheless, in the absence of authorization of "special statutory review" under the Exchange Act, there is still "general statutory review" under the APA, which authorizes us to review "final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court."
Schiller v. Tower Semiconductor, Ltd., 449 F.3d 286, 292-93 (2d Cir.2006) (citations omitted); see also In re SEC ex rel. Glotzer, 374 F.3d 184, 189 (2d Cir. 2004) (holding that, when the APA applies, "compliance with [17 C.F.R. § 201.430] is mandatory"). Thus, 17 C.F.R. § 201.430(c), which was promulgated under the APA, would presumably apply to "action[s] made by authority delegated in §§ 200.30-1 through 200.30-18" that are not subject to a special statutory review process, such as 15 U.S.C. § 78y. 17 C.F.R. § 201.430(c).

The petition for rehearing en banc is DENIED. Fed. R.App. P. 35. No further petitions for rehearing or rehearing en banc may be filed.

OPINION

THOMAS, Circuit Judge:

Richard Sacks filed a petition for review challenging a rule proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rule prohibits non-attorneys who have been banned from the securities industry from representing parties in securities-related arbitration. Sacks argues the rule is impermissibly retroactive. We agree and hold that the rule cannot be applied retroactively.

I

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority[1] ("FINRA") is a "self-regulatory organization" under the Securities Exchange Act. See 72 Fed.Reg. 42169 (Aug. 1, 2007); 15 U.S.C. §§ 78c(a)(26), 78s(b).

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Bluebook (online)
648 F.3d 945, 2011 WL 3437088, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sacks-v-sec-ca9-2011.