KATHERINE B. FORREST, District Judge:
On August 1, 2013, a jury returned a verdict against defendant Fabrice 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
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 million
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
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.
Accordingly, the SEC's motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
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.
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.)
At the close of trial, the Court instructed the jury as to seven separate alleged violations of the securities laws by Tourre.
The Court then described for the jury the particular conduct alleged by the SEC for each of the seven violations.
For Section 17(a)(1), the Court stated the SEC's allegation that Tourre "participated in a scheme to defraud ACA in the offer or sale of the ABACUS 2007-AC1 notes and the Goldman/ABN and ABN/ACA credit default swaps." (Trial Tr. at 2782.) For Section 17(a)(2), the Court stated the SEC's allegation that four misstatements or omissions were used: (1) "That the reference portfolio was `selected by ACA,' while omitting the fact that Paulson played a significant role in the portfolio selection"; (2) "That the equity tranche of the AC1 transaction was `precommitted'"; (3) "That the `incentives' of Paulson were `aligned' in the AC1 transaction"; and (4) "That Paulson was the `transaction sponsor' in the AC1 transaction or that Paulson was a long investor in the AC1 transaction." (Id. at 2789-90.) For Section 17(a)(3), the Court stated the SEC's allegation that Tourre "engaged in a fraudulent transaction, practice or course of business in the offer or sale of the ABACUS 2007-AC1 notes and the Goldman/ABN and ABN/ACA credit default swaps." (Id. at 2795.)
While the Court instructed the jury "not to consider sales which occurred overseas (for instance, to Loreley/IKB
For the SEC's three Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 claims, the Court instructed the jury that these claims "apply only to the alleged fraud on ACA and other ACA-related entities," and that "there is no claim that Mr. Tourre violated Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 in connection with any other investor that you have heard about during the course of this trial." (Id. at 2797.) Accordingly, the Court's description of the conduct alleged by the SEC for each of the three subsections of Rule 10b-5 (which mirror the subsections of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act) focuses only on the ABACUS 2007-AC1 notes and the ABN/ACA swap agreement, (See id. at 2801-2803.)
The Court also explained the different intent requirements for each of the seven violations for the jury. The Court instructed the jury that Section 17(a)(1) requires proof of intent to defraud or reckless disregard for the truth, but that Section 17(a)(2) and (3) may be satisfied by a showing of negligence. (Id. at 2784-86, 2792-94, 2796.) The Court instructed the jury that Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 require proof of intent to defraud or reckless disregard for the truth (and are not satisfied by proof of mere negligence). (Id. at 2804-2805.)
After delivering the charge, the Court provided the jury with a general verdict form that asked for a finding of "liable" or "not liable" for each of the seven alleged violations. This form was similar to the proposed verdict form submitted by the SEC prior to trial. (See Chepiga Decl. Ex. 1 at 3-4, ECF No. 506.) The proposed verdict form submitted by Tourre, 22 pages in total, would have required the jury to find each of the elements of each claim separately; it also would have required the jury to specify whether it found Tourre liable under Section 17(a)(2) or (3) with respect to ACA, IKB, ABN, or other investors in AC1, and which of the alleged misstatements or omissions it found against him. (See id. Ex. 1 at 6-20; 7/15/13 Letter at 6-13, ECF No. 409.) The SEC objected to Tourre's proposed verdict form, and the Court agreed in light of the fact that the Court's charge (a copy of which was given to each juror) provided a detailed roadmap for the jurors through each of the elements of each claim and required unanimity as to each element. (See Trial Tr. at 2486-89.)
The jury found Tourre liable for six of the seven alleged violations — it did not find Tourre to have violated Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act through the violation of Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder.
Tourre received a bonus of $1,579,167 for 2007, the year during which the AC1 transaction was negotiated and closed, in January 2008. (See Fitzpatrick Decl. Ex. 1, ECF No. 493.) This was the largest bonus he ever received at Goldman. (Id.)
The parties agree that there are subjective and qualitative components to bonus determinations at Goldman. The SEC relies on the January 13, 2010 congressional testimony of Goldman CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, in which he stated that compensation at Goldman is based on "(1) the performance of the firm; (2) the performance of the business unit; and (3) the performance of the individual." (Id. Ex. 5 at 5.) Tourre relies on a January 21, 2014 declaration from Daniel L. Sparks, the head of the Mortgage Department at Goldman in 2007, who supervised the employees of the Structured Product Group ("SPG") and helped develop and present recommendations for bonus awards for these employees, including Tourre. (Sparks Decl. ¶ 2.) According to Sparks, "some of the primary factors in the bonus determination were the profitability of the firm, division, business unit and desk; the employee's seniority; his prior year's compensation; the qualitative view of the employee's contribution to the firm and it clients; the compensation opportunities that he might have at other firms; the
Both Goldman and the Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities business segment within which Tourre worked reported record earnings in 2007, and the Mortgage Department had record profitability that year. (See Fitzpatrick Decl. Ex. 4; Sparks Decl. ¶ 4.)
Though AC1 was one of six transactions with which Tourre had particular involvement during the 2007 fiscal year (see Fitzpatrick Decl. Exs. 6, 7), it represented a significant piece of Tourre's work during Goldman's 2007 fiscal year.
During the transaction, Tourre used AC1 as a way to demonstrate to his superiors at Goldman his ability to structure transactions and generate profits. (See PX22; PX23; PX192; PX233 at 2; PX325; PX353; Trial Tr. at 685.) Following the transaction, Tourre continued to tout his work on AC1 in his self-evaluation for 2007, which was generated in September 2007. The first sentence of Tourre's self-evaluation reads: "Have showed creativity in creating for third party clients transactions that (a) address those clients' needs, (b) enabled Goldman to position risk appropriately, and (c) enabled Goldman to generate revenue through bid/offer on exotic derivatives trades." (PX369
In 2007, Tourre's performance was found to be in the top 25% of Goldman employees (see PX369 at 8; Fitzpatrick
With respect to the other transactions Tourre worked on in 2007, there are fewer, and more negative, references in his performance reviews than those dealing with AC1. (See PX369 at 22, 25-26.)
According to Sparks, he has no recollection of a discussion of the AC1 transaction in connection with Tourre's bonus, and he states that it would not likely have been a focus of Tourre's bonus determination because of the small amount of profit it generated in relation to the Desk's overall profits. (Id. ¶ 6.)
After the SEC filed this action on April 16, 2010, Goldman placed Tourre on paid administrative leave. (Trial Tr. at 2373-74.) He has not worked in the securities industry since that time. During the year Tourre spent on paid leave, he volunteered in East Africa and applied to graduate schools. (Id. at 2374, 2357.) In August 2011, Tourre started a Ph.D program in economics at the University of Chicago, where he has since been a full-time student and teaching assistant, (Id. at 2357-58.) According to representations by his counsel, Tourre is scheduled to complete this program in June 2016, and he plans to pursue a career in academia. (2/20/14 Tr. at 42, ECF No. 515; Tourre Opp. at 2, ECF No. 505.)
The SEC seeks three types of remedies from Tourre: (A) disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, along with prejudgment interest on those gains; (B) civil monetary penalties; and (C) injunctive relief. Different legal standards apply to each remedy, and the Court discusses them in turn.
"Once the district court has found federal securities law violations, it has broad equitable power to fashion appropriate remedies, including ordering that culpable defendants disgorge their profits." SEC v. First Jersey Sec. Inc., 101 F.3d 1450, 1474 (2d Cir.1996) (citing cases). "Disgorgement is an equitable remedy, imposed to force a defendant to give up the amount by which he was unjustly enriched," SEC v. Contorinis, 743 F.3d 296, 301 (2d Cir.2014) (quoting FTC v. Bronson Partners, 654 F.3d 359, 372 (2d Cir.2011)) (internal quotation marks omitted), "which has the effect of deterring subsequent fraud." SEC v. Cavanagh, 445 F.3d 105, 117 (2d Cir.2006). "Disgorgement thus should have the effect of returning a defendant to his status quo prior to the wrongdoing." Contorinis, 743 F.3d
District courts have "broad discretion not only in determining whether or not to order disgorgement but also in calculating the amount to be disgorged." First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1474-75 (citing SEC v. Lorin, 76 F.3d 458, 462 (2d Cir. 1996)). "[T]he measure of disgorgement need not be tied to the losses suffered by defrauded investors, and a district court may order disgorgement regardless of whether the disgorged funds will be paid to such investors as restitution." SEC v. Fischbach Corp., 133 F.3d 170, 176 (2d Cir.1997) (citations omitted).
"[B]ecause of the difficulty of determining with certainty the extent to which a defendant's gains resulted from his frauds ... the court need not determine the amount of such gains with exactitude." SEC v. Razmilovic, 738 F.3d 14, 31 (2d Cir.2013). "The amount of disgorgement ordered need only be a reasonable approximation of profits causally connected to the violation; any risk of uncertainty [in calculating disgorgement] should fall on the wrongdoer whose illegal conduct created that uncertainty." First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1475 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). "Once the SEC has met the burden of establishing a reasonable approximation of the profits casually related to the fraud, the burden shifts to the defendant to show that his gains `were unaffected by his offenses.'" Razmilovic, 738 F.3d at 31 (quoting Lorin, 76 F.3d at 462).
Specific tracing of the funds in a defendant's possession that are properly subject to disgorgement is not required. Contorinis, 743 F.3d at 303 n. 3; Bronson Partners, 654 F.3d at 373-74 (collecting cases). "[T]he causal connection required is between the amount by which the defendant was unjustly enriched and the amount he can be required to disgorge." SEC v. Banner Fund Int'l, 211 F.3d 602, 617 (D.C.Cir.2000); see Contorinis, 743 F.3d at 303 n. 3 (citing Banner Fund Int'l, 211 F.3d at 617; Bronson Partners, 654 F.3d at 374 (same)). Courts order disgorgement of some or all of a defendant's bonus when it is reasonable to infer a causal connection between such bonus and the defendant's fraudulent conduct. Razmilovic, 738 F.3d at 32-33; SEC v. Mortenson, No. CV-04-2276 (SJF), 2013 WL 991334, at *6 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 11, 2013).
The SEC seeks disgorgement of the portion of Tourre's 2007 bonus that is reasonably attributable to his work on the AC1 transaction. (See SEC Mem. of Law at 9, ECF No. 492.) The SEC estimates this amount at $175,463 in light of its approximation of the impact Tourre's individual performance and the AC1 transaction specifically had on his total bonus that year. (Id. at 10-13.) The SEC offers this approximation on the basis of "qualitative" factors — in particular, Tourre's self-evaluation, the performance evaluations of Tourre by others, and emails from Tourre that tout the importance of the AC1 transaction and Tourre's role in the transaction. (Id. at 11-13.)
Tourre opposes the SEC's disgorgement request on two grounds. First, Tourre argues that disgorgement from Tourre related to the AC1 transaction represents impermissible "double-counting" under Second Circuit law in light of Goldman's $15 million "disgorgement" payment as part of its settlement with the SEC in this action. (See Tourre Opp. at 18-19.) Second, Tourre argues that disgorgement is not appropriate because the SEC has failed to establish a causal connection between the AC1 transaction and Tourre's 2007 bonus, or a reasonable approximation of Tourre's profit. (See id. at 19-24.)
In arguing that further disgorgement from Tourre related to AC1 constitutes impermissible double-counting, Tourre relies on SEC v. AbsoluteFuture.com and its holding, which extends First Jersey, "that when the profits of multiple defendants are to be disgorged, the total disgorgement amount cannot exceed the combined profits of the defendants." SEC v. AbsoluteFuture.com, 393 F.3d 94, 96 (2d Cir.2004). Tourre seeks to apply AbsoluteFuture.com by arguing that the combined profits here, if any, total no more than the $15 million that Goldman initially recognized in trading revenue and which Goldman has already paid the SEC. (See Tourre Opp. at 19.)
The Court rejects the notion that the total permissible disgorgement flowing from the AC1 transaction, from both Tourre and Goldman, is the $15 million Goldman initially recognized in trading revenue. Goldman received more than $1 billion from long investors in AC1, though most of this money ultimately went to Paulson through a series of related credit default swaps.
With respect to Tourre's second argument, the Court finds that it cannot be reasonably disputed that Tourre was unjustly enriched by the AC1 transaction. As the evaluations and emails discussed supra show, and as Tourre himself admits, AC1 was a "huge focus" of his work in 2007, and was viewed as a success by his superiors at Goldman. Tourre argues that any such impact AC1 transaction had on his 2007 bonus is negligible, because AC1 generated less than 2% of the mortgage correlation desk's profit that year. (See 2/20/14 Tr. at 52; Tourre Opp. at 24; Sparks Decl. ¶ 6.) As the Sparks Declaration submitted by Tourre emphasizes, however, factors such as "the qualitative view of the employee's contribution to the firm and it clients" and the employee's "expected future contribution to the firm" are part
In its recent decision in SEC v. Contorinis, the Second Circuit made clear that the amount to be disgorged from a defendant may include "illicit benefits for the wrongdoer that are indirect or intangible." Contorinis, 743 F.3d at 306 As the Contorinis court explains, "[b]ecause it would be difficult to quantify the advantages of an enhanced reputation or the psychic pleasures of enriching a family member, to require precise articulation of such rewards in calculating disgorgement amounts would allow the wrongdoer to benefit from such uncertainty." Id. Citing First Jersey, the court emphasizes the fact that "the risk of uncertainty in the amount of disgorgement is not properly so allocated." Id. Accordingly, the Court will not allow Tourre to similarly benefit from the risk of uncertainty that he attempts to create with respect to Goldman's bonus determinations.
The SEC's approximation of the portion of Tourre's bonus that is attributable to AC1 explicitly seeks to separate that portion of his 2007 bonus that was attributable to the performance of both Goldman and Tourre's business unit that year. Based on the congressional testimony of Goldman's CEO (see Fitzpatrick Decl. Ex. 5 at 5), the SEC estimates the impact of these two factors on Tourre's bonus as one-third each. With respect to the remaining one-third of Tourre's bonus, the portion the SEC estimates is attributable to his individual performance that year, the Court finds that the SEC's estimate that one-third was attributable to Tourre's work on AC1 is entirely reasonable. The record evidence before the Court at the penalty stage shows that AC1 was one of, if not the most, significant transaction on which Tourre worked in 2007. Accordingly, the Court holds that disgorgement from Tourre of $175,463 — one-ninth (11%) of Tourre's total bonus that year — is warranted.
Whether to grant prejudgment interest, and the rate of any such interest, is left to the broad discretion of this Court. See SEC v. Contorinis, 2014 WL 593484, at *8; First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1476. In deciding whether to award prejudgment interest, this Court considers (1) "the need to fully compensate the wronged party for actual damages suffered"; (2) "considerations of fairness and the relative equities of the award"; (3) "the remedial purpose of the statute involved"; and/or (4) "such other factors as are deemed relevant by the court." First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1476. "In an enforcement action brought by a regulatory agency, the remedial purpose of the statute takes on special importance." Id. Along with disgorgement, prejudgment interest ensures that the "defendant does not profit" from his ill-gotten gains, including the time value of money. SEC v. World Info. Tech., Inc., 590 F.Supp.2d 574, 578 (S.D.N.Y.2008).
For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds that the assessment of prejudgment interest is appropriate, running from February 1, 2008 (the beginning of the first month following Tourre's receipt of his 2007 bonus) up through the end of 2013. As for the rate of such interest, though other courts have endorsed the use of the Internal Revenue Service rate of interest on tax underpayments and refunds as a benchmark, see, e.g., First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1476, the Court finds the use of such a rate during the full period (particularly in 2008) to be unreasonable in light of the financial and market conditions at the time. Accordingly, the SEC is ordered to recalculate the amount of prejudgment interest using a rate of 3% for the entire period.
Both the Securities Act and the Exchange Act authorize three tiers of monetary penalties, in increasing severity, for statutory violations. See 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3). A first-tier penalty may be imposed for any violation; a second-tier penalty may be imposed if the violation "involved fraud, deceit, manipulation, or deliberate or reckless disregard of a regulatory requirement"; and a third-tier penalty may be imposed when, in addition to meeting the second-tier requirements, the "violation directly or indirectly resulted in substantial losses or created a significant risk of substantial losses to other persons." Razmilovic, 738 F.3d at 38 (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)(2)(A)-(C) and 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)(B)(i)-(iii)). Each tier provides that, for each violation, the amount of the penalty "shall not exceed the greater of a specified monetary amount or the defendant's gross pecuniary gain." 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3) (same). At the time Tourre committed his fraud, the statutory maximum penalties were $6,500 for a first-tier penalty, $65,000 for a second-tier penalty, and $130,000 for a third-tier penalty. See 17 C.F.R. § 201.1003.
The civil penalties statutes, enacted as part of the Securities Enforcement Remedies and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990, permit the imposition of penalties "for each violation." 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3). The Senate and House committee reports issued prior to passage of the Act repeatedly describe the conduct constituting a "violation" for the purposes of calculating a penalty as an "act or omission," which must then be evaluated in order to determine its severity. See S.Rep. No. 101-337, at 12-13 (1990); H.R.Rep. No. 101-615, at 15-23 (1990). Similarly, courts in this District have calculated the number of violations "based upon the number of acts taken that violate the securities laws," and the Second Circuit has endorsed that analysis. See SEC v. Pentagon Capital Mgmt., No. 08 Civ. 3324(RWS), 2012 WL 1036087, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2012) (citing cases), vacated on other grounds, SEC v. Pentagon Capital Mgmt., 725 F.3d 279, 288 n. 7 (2d Cir.2013) ("Although we vacate the civil penalty award, we find no error in the district court's methodology for calculating the maximum penalty by counting each late trade as a separate violation."); SEC v. Coates, 137 F.Supp.2d 413, 428-30 (S.D.N.Y.2001). The concept of a "violation" is thus tied to some action (such as a misstatement) or an omission by the defendant. In the context of fraud, a violation is tied to the act or omission that constitutes the fraud, or the subsequent "peddling" of that fraud.
The SEC asks the Court to impose a separate third-tier penalty for each of seven listed violations:
(SEC Mem. of Law at 16-17 (citations omitted).)
The SEC argues that each of these violations was "an offer of a security, each offer was part of the fraudulent scheme, and each contained the core misrepresentation that the portfolio was selected by ACA."
Tourre does not specifically contest the per-violation methodology; rather, he contests the number of violations necessarily found by the jury and the severity of those violations. (See Tourre Opp. at 2-11.) According to Tourre, because the jury only necessarily found a single scheme to defraud ACA, and did not specify which of the listed misstatements or omissions it found for purposes of Section 17(a)(2) (because of the general verdict form used by the Court), only a single second-tier penalty is warranted. (Id. at 2-4.)
Though the maximum penalty is set by statute on the basis of tier, the actual amount of the penalty is left up to the discretion of the district court. SEC v. Kern, 425 F.3d 143, 153 (2d Cir.2005). In exercising this discretion, courts weigh "(1) the egregiousness of the defendant's conduct; (2) the degree of the defendant's scienter; (3) whether the defendant's conduct created substantial losses or the risk of substantial losses to other persons; (4) whether the defendant's conduct was isolated or recurrent; and (5) whether the penalty should be reduced due to the defendant's demonstrated current and future financial condition." SEC v. Haligiannis, 470 F.Supp.2d 373, 386 (S.D.N.Y.2007) (citing Coates, 137 F.Supp.2d at 429).
Tourre does not dispute that the verdict form used by the Court provides a "basis" for a second-tier penalty for the violation respecting ACA, in light of the jury's liability findings under Section 17(a)(1), Rule 10b-5(a), and Rule 10b-5(c). (See Tourre Opp. at 2-4.) Tourre argues, however, that the jury did not necessarily find violations respecting IKB or ABN (or any other potential investors in AC1) and, thus, the Court may not impose civil penalties for this conduct. (See id. at 4.) Tourre argues that, because the Court did not use a verdict form that required the jury to specify either the conduct underlying the scheme on ACA or which of the alleged misstatements it found against Tourre, it "provides no basis for this Court to find that the jury determined that the six supposed offers sent to potential AC1 investors other than ACA constituted violations of the securities laws." (Id. at 3-4.)
The Court disagrees. The evidence adduced at trial overwhelmingly showed that the scheme to defraud ACA was effectively the AC1 transaction itself — defrauding ACA into serving as portfolio selection agent, so that Goldman could then peddle the AC1 transaction to unsuspecting long investors who believed ACA alone had selected the reference portfolio and were unaware of Paulson's role as a pure short investor. The six non-ACA fraudulent offers identified by the SEC — offers not only to IKB and ABN, but to Calcyon, CIFG, BAWAG, and UBS as well — all contain the same core half-truth: that the reference portfolio for the AC1 transaction was "selected by ACA," while failing to disclose Paulson's role in the portfolio selection process. (See SEC Mem. of Law at 16-17.) These offers all rely on the scheme to defraud ACA that was found by the jury as a violation of Section 17(a)(1),
Tourre, the deal captain for AC1, described AC1 as "broker[ing] the short" for Paulson, (See PX192, PX233.) He accomplished this by structuring a synthetic CDO with a reference portfolio that met Paulson's specified criteria — the RMBS most likely to experience credit events. (See PX10; PX11; Trial Tr. at 329, 2105.) The evidence at trial showed that Tourre misrepresented Paulson's role in the AC1
After sending the false email, Tourre learned that ACA believed Paulson to be an equity investor in AC1, even though he knew that Paulson had made no such investment and was only interested in shorting the deal. (See PX72; Trial Tr. at 1956.) Tourre never corrected ACA's misimpression of Paulson's role in the transaction or clarified Paulson's true financial interest in AC1. (Trial Tr. at 2046, 2071.) At the same time, Tourre wanted to use ACA's name on the transaction to attract long investors, who would have been aware of ACA's reputation as a respected portfolio selection agent. (See PX158; PX170, PX233 at 4.) ACA witnesses testified that they would never have agreed to serve as the collateral manager for AC1 if they had known Paulson was a purely short investor. (Trial Tr. at 1370, 1381, 1468, 1593-94, 1884).
The evidence admitted at trial clearly showed that Tourre participated in a scheme to defraud ACA into serving as portfolio selection manager (while failing to mention Paulson's role) so that Goldman could market the AC1 transaction to long investors as having a portfolio that was "selected by ACA." The fraud on ACA was critical to making the transaction work; without ACA as portfolio selection agent, Goldman would not have been able to convince others to invest in the equity of the transaction. Without the fraud on ACA, there may have never been an AC1 transaction. The six non-ACA offers the SEC identifies in its motion each flow from and embody the fraud on ACA, and were thus necessarily found by the jury in its finding of liability as to Section 17(a)(1). The deception of ACA thus produced the half-truth included in the offers identified by the SEC — that the portfolio was "selected by ACA" while leaving out any mention of Paulson.
Additionally, the Court finds that Tourre's conduct with respect to ACA, IKB, and ABN directly or indirectly resulted in substantial losses or created a significant risk of substantial losses to other persons. It is undisputed that Goldman sold AC1 notes worth $42 million to ACA and $150 million to IKB. (Id. at 898-900, 2423-24.) It is also undisputed that ABN and ACA took long positions on AC1 through a series of credit default swaps with a notional amount of $909 million, with ABN required to pay Goldman $909 million if the assets in the AC1 portfolio defaulted. (Id. at 2432-34.) Paulson ultimately made more than $1 billion on the transaction, while these long investors lost more than $1 billion combined.
Tourre argues that there was no proof, and the jury did not find, that these losses resulted from his conduct. (See Tourre Opp. at 6.) This argument does not correctly state the standard for third-tier penalties
As set forth above, because the remaining four fraudulent offers identified by the SEC — offers to Calcyon, CIFG, BAWAG, and UBS — all contain the same core half-truth regarding ACA's and Paulson's roles in selecting the AC1 reference portfolio, which was produced by the scheme to defraud ACA, the imposition of at least second-tier penalties for each such violation is warranted by the jury's finding of liability as to Section 17(a)(1).
The Court finds, however, that third-tier penalties are not warranted for these four violations because the evidence in the record does not satisfy the loss requirement for a third-tier penalty under the statutes. For a third-tier penalty, both statutes require that the violation "directly or indirectly resulted in substantial losses or created a significant risk of substantial losses to other persons." 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)(2)(C); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)(B)(iii). None of these four offers resulted in substantial losses, either directly or indirectly, because none of these entities ultimately invested in the AC1 transaction. The SEC has also failed to show that any of these four offers created a significant risk of substantial losses.
The SEC argues that the significance of the risks here comes from the fact that these offers were "specifically tailored" to "large institutional buyers of these types of products, sophisticated institutions who are clients of Goldman Sachs and being selected by a very sophisticated investment bank to be shown this product through their sales force." (2/20/14 Tr. at 38-40.) The Court is not persuaded given the factual record developed at trial. At most, the emails reflecting the offers identified by the SEC (and the corresponding testimony by Tourre) suggest that either a Goldman salesperson or Tourre spoke to the individual at the institution being solicited about AC1.
For the reasons set forth above concerning the nature of Tourre's fraudulent conduct in connection with the AC1 transaction (which includes the attempts to obtain investments by Calcyon, CIFG, BAWAG, and UBS reflected in the offers identified
Finally, the SEC asks the Court to prohibit Tourre from accepting reimbursement for any civil penalties he is required to pay. (See SEC Mem. of Law at 22-23.) In support of this request, the SEC cites news reports from August 2013 that state Goldman "has privately indicated it might even pay whatever money [Tourre] could ultimately be fined," though the SEC also notes that counsel to Goldman has stated in correspondence with the SEC that no agreement or informal understanding as to reimbursement existed as of November 2013. (Id. at 22; Fitzpatrick Decl. Ex. 13.)
The dual purposes of civil penalties are to punish the individual violator and to deter future violations. See Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of World-Com, Inc. v. SEC, 467 F.3d 73, 81 (2d Cir.2006); SEC v. Gupta, No. 11 Civ. 7566(JSR), 2013 WL 3784138, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2013). Consistent with these purposes, the civil penalties statutes describe separate maximum penalties for "natural persons" and "any other person." 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)(2); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)(B). At the time of Tourre's conduct, the maximum penalties for "any other person" were five times the maximum penalties for "natural persons" for both second-tier and third-tier penalties. See 17 C.F.R. § 201.1003. The civil penalties statutes also state that courts "shall have jurisdiction to impose, upon a proper showing, a civil penalty to be paid by the person who committed such violation." 15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)(1) (emphasis added); 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)(A) (emphasis added).
The Court grants the SEC's application in part — the Court prohibits Tourre from accepting reimbursement for the payment of these civil penalties from Goldman only. The Court does not prohibit Tourre from accepting reimbursement from any non-Goldman sources. In finding Tourre liable under Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act, the jury necessarily found Tourre to have aided and abetted a violation of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 by Goldman. (See Trial Tr. at 2805-2806.) To permit Tourre to obtain reimbursement from Goldman, which the jury in this case found to be a co-violator of the securities laws, would undermine the purposes of the civil penalty statutes — to punish the individual violator and to deter future violations.
The Court emphasizes that its holding here is highly dependent on the facts of this case and the specific statutory provisions under which the jury found Tourre liable. Such a no-reimbursement provision thus falls within the Court's "broad equitable
Both the Securities Act and the Exchange Act also permit a court to order injunctive relief in the face of a violation of any of their provisions. 15 U.S.C. § 77t(b); 15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(d)(e), 78u-1. "An injunction prohibiting a party from violating statutory provisions is appropriate where there is a likelihood that, unless enjoined, the violations will continue." First Jersey, 101 F.3d at 1477 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). "Such an injunction is particularly within the court's discretion where a violation was founded on systematic wrongdoing, rather than an isolated occurrence, and where the court views the defendant's degree of culpability and continued protestations of innocence as indications that injunctive relief is warranted, since persistent refusals to admit any wrongdoing ma[k]e it rather dubious that [the offenders] are likely to avoid such violations of the securities laws in the future in the absence of an injunction." Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
SEC seeks an order permanently enjoining Tourre against future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act. (SEC Mem. of Law at 23.)
As an initial matter, the Court is skeptical of the utility of this kind of "obey-the-law" injunction — after all, everyone is required to obey the law, the law comes with its own penalties, and merely reciting statutory provisions gives an individual "little guidance on how to conform his conduct to the terms of the injunction," See SEC v. Goble, 682 F.3d 934, 949-52 (11th Cir. 2012). Additionally, as the SEC concedes, these injunctions are rarely if ever enforced through contempt proceedings against an individual whose conduct giving rise to the injunction took place while he or she was at an investment bank. (See 2/20/14 Tr. at 44-46.)
The Court denies the SEC's request for injunctive relief at this time, because there is insufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of future violations by Tourre. There is no evidence that Tourre has any intention of returning to the securities industry following the expected completion of his studies in June 2016. In fact, the evidence is and has been consistently to the contrary — Tourre has not worked in the securities industry since being placed on paid administrative leave by Goldman nearly four years ago in April 2010, and is in the middle of a six-year Ph.D program in economics at the University of Chicago.
Nevertheless, the Court will keep jurisdiction over this case and, if facts develop that suggest Tourre does intend to return to the securities industry within three years of the date of this Opinion, the Court will entertain an appropriate application for injunctive relief from the SEC at that time. As Tourre's counsel conceded at oral argument, such an approach "seems to be a very good way to balance the legal
For the reasons set forth above, the SEC's motion for disgorgement and prejudgment interest, civil monetary penalties, and injunctive relief is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The parties are directed to submit a joint proposed form of judgment within
The Clerk of Court is directed to close the motion at ECF No. 491.
SO ORDERED.