4 High Court Cases for Banks to Watch in 2024

Nikhil Gore’s commentary was included in a Law360 article covering how several lawsuits before the U.S. Supreme Court could affect the banking industry in 2024.

Nikhil shared insight on the SEC v. Jarkesy case, which focuses on the SEC's longstanding power to enforce federal securities laws through proceedings brought in administrative law courts. “There seemed to be appetite for a narrower decision focused on this Seventh Amendment issue,” Nikhil said referring to the constitutional jury trial right that Jarkesy has argued was violated by the SEC going after him administratively.

“Banking enforcement actions, broadly speaking, can raise three types of claims,” he added. The first type deals with a “violation of a specific law or regulation,” he said, while the other two types allege either an "unsafe or unsound” practice or a "breach of fiduciary duty.”

Nikhil also pointed out that if the court's Jarkesy decision “says that penalties associated with traditional, common law-type claims entail a jury trial but no other type of penalty proceedings do, then that would arguably implicate fiduciary duty claims.”