Securities & Exchange Commission v. Tourre

4 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32817, 2014 WL 969442
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 12, 2014
DocketNo. 10 Civ. 3229(KBF)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 4 F. Supp. 3d 579 (Securities & Exchange Commission v. Tourre) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Tourre, 4 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32817, 2014 WL 969442 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

KATHERINE B. FORREST, District Judge:

On August 1, 2013, a jury returned a verdict against defendant Fabriee Tourre for violating a variety of provisions of the securities laws. The jury found Tourre liable on six out of seven of the SEC’s claims against him; the jury found he violated Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act, Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act, Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(a), Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(c), and Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act.

On December 16, 2013, the SEC moved this Court for disgorgement and prejudgment interest, civil monetary penalties, and injunctive relief against Tourre. Tourre opposed the motion on January 21, 2014, and the motion became fully briefed on January 31, 2014. The Court held argument on the motion on February 20, 2014.

The parties’ disputes are focused on, inter alia, the following four issues:

1. Can this Court order disgorgement of that portion of Tourre’s 2007 bonus that is fairly attributable to his work on the [583]*583ABACUS 2007-AC1 (“AC1”) transaction,1 when Goldman Sachs & Co. (“Goldman”) has already disgorged $15 million, the amount of initial trading revenue it recognized from the transaction, in its settlement with the SEC?

2. In light of the general verdict of liability as to Section 17(a)(1), can this Court impose third-tier civil penalties for offers as to which the jury did not find by special verdict were individually violative of the securities laws?

3. Can this Court prohibit Tourre from being indemnified by Goldman for any civil penalties he is required to pay?

4. Is injunctive relief appropriate when Tourre has represented that he is not now and does not currently intend to re-enter the securities industry?

For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds as follows:

1. Goldman and Tourre each received separate gains relating to the AC1 transaction. Goldman received initial trading revenues of $15 million2 and more than $1 billion in payments from long investors, which were then passed along to Paulson & Co. (“Paulson”) through a series of credit default swaps.3 Tourre received a bonus that year from Goldman that was based in part on his personal performance, and his personal performance was based in part on his work on the AC1 transaction. The Court agrees with the SEC’s approximation of the portion of Tourre’s bonus— $175,463 — that is reasonably attributable to the AC1 transaction, and finds that Tourre has failed to rebut this presumption of validity. The Court thus orders disgorgement of $175,463 from Tourre, plus prejudgment interest in an amount to be recalculated by the SEC at a rate of 3%.

2. Courts assess civil penalties on a per-violation basis. The term “violation” is based on various fraudulent acts or omissions; the term “violation” is not limited to its singular form merely because one scheme involved many acts. The jury found Tourre liable for participating in a [584]*584scheme to defraud ACA;4 each of the seven offers listed by the SEC directly relied on that scheme the jury found to be fraudulent. In light of the evidence presented at trial, the Court imposes third-tier penalties of $130,000 for three of these offers — the offers to ACA, IKB, and ABN. Because the Court does not find that the remaining four offers directly or indirectly resulted in substantial losses, or created a significant risk of substantial losses to other persons, the Court imposes second-tier penalties of $65,000 for the offers to Cal-cyon, CIFG, BAWAG, and UBS. In total, the Court imposes civil penalties in the amount of $650,000 against Tourre.

3. The Court prohibits Tourre from seeking reimbursement for the payment of the $650,000 in civil penalties from Goldman, which the jury determined to be a co-violator of the securities laws with respect to ACA and, thus, necessarily, in the AC1 transaction. The Court does not prohibit Tourre from seeking reimbursement from any other persons or entities.

4. In light of Tourre’s representations, injunctive relief is not appropriate at this time. However, the Court shall retain jurisdiction over this matter for a period of three years from the date of this Opinion and, should Tourre become employed in any capacity in the securities industry during that period, the SEC may apply for appropriate injunctive relief at that time.5

Accordingly, the SEC’s motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court assumes familiarity with its prior decisions and with the factual record in this case. For context, the Court sets forth below the facts relevant to the instant motion.

A. The Goldman Settlement and the Amended Complaint

The SEC originally filed this enforcement action related to the AC1 transaction on April 16, 2010, against both Goldman and Tourre. Just over three months later, on July 20, 2010, the Court entered a judgment on consent as to Goldman only. This judgment reflected the terms of Goldman’s settlement with the SEC. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Goldman agreed to, inter alia, (1) a permanent injunction from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act; (2) payment of $15,000,000 in “disgorgement”; (3) payment of a civil penalty of $535,000,000, for which Goldman agreed not to seek or accept reimbursement or indemnification; and (4) certain other undertakings relating to Goldman’s internal controls. (See Goldman Consent Judgment, ECF No. 25.)

The SEC filed its amended complaint, against Tourre only, on November 22, 2010. In it, the SEC alleged violations by Tourre of all three subsections of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act through each of the three subsections of Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and violation of Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act as a result of the violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 74-83, ECF No. 44.)

B. The Jury Charge and Verdict Form

At the close of trial, the Court instructed the jury as to seven separate alleged violations of the securities laws by Tourre.

[585]*585The Court first instructed the jury as to the financial instruments that were included within the meaning of the terms “securities” and “security-based swap agreements.” The Court explained for the jury that “the ABACUS 2007-AC1 notes that were created on April 26, 2007 are securities within the meaning of securities law,” and that “the two security-based swap agreements at issue in this case — (1) the credit default swap transaction that Goldman Sachs International, sometimes referred to as GSI, entered into with ABN AMRO on May 31, 2007; and (2) the credit default swap transaction that ABN AMRO entered into with ACA Credit Products on May 31, 2007 — are security-based swap agreements within the meaning of the securities laws.”6 (Trial Tr. at 2779-80.)

The Court then described for the jury the particular conduct alleged by the SEC for each of the seven violations.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 F. Supp. 3d 579, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32817, 2014 WL 969442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-exchange-commission-v-tourre-nysd-2014.