“Rather than litigating against Wall Street and holding it accountable for misconduct, the SEC has decided to litigate against a federal judge who refused to rubber-stamp their proposed indefensible settlement with Citigroup.  After carefully and thoroughly scrutinizing the SEC’s court filings, Judge Rakoff came to the correct conclusion that the settlement was not fair, adequate or reasonable,” said Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, a nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the financial markets. 

“Notably, the judge also rejected two positions of the SEC that were as novel as they were dangerous.  First, he rejected their insistence that the role of the court was so limited that it amounted to little more than signing whatever the SEC submitted.  Second, the court rejected the SEC’s position that it could settle cases without considering whether or not the settlement was in the public interest.  The court properly found that the settlement had to be in the public interest, but determined that it was not,” said Mr. Kelleher.