Court expands SEC disgorgement reach in securities fraud

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the SEC’s broad power to disgorge ill‑gotten gains in securities fraud, ruling that the agency need not prove that individual investors lost money—only that the offender profited and that investors may be victims eligible for compensation. The decision, tied to a case involving penny-stock pump‑and‑dump schemes, allows the SEC to order more than $3 million (including interest) returned to investors, reinforcing federal enforcement of fraud.”