United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. H. Thomas Fehn

This appeal requires us to apply Section 104 of the recently enacted Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which expressly authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to bring injunc-tive actions against those who aid and abet violations of certain securities laws.

California attorney H. Thomas Fehn appeals the district court’s final judgment and permanent injunction order of April 1, 1994, which ordered Fehn to refrain from aiding and abetting violations of Section 10(b) and Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and related regulations. Fehn advances three distinct challenges to the district court’s injunction. He first contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, 511 U.S. 164 , 114 S.Ct. 1439 , 128 L.Ed.2d 119 (1994), which held that a private plaintiff may not maintain an action for aiding and abetting violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, should extend to SEC injunctive actions like the one that precipitated this case. Fehn argues, in the alternative, that even if Central Bank does not preclude the SEC’s injunctive action against him, the district court…