Last year, Waymaker filed an amicus brief on behalf of client CalALTs (the California Alternative Investments Association) in SEC v. Sripetch, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve conflicting interpretations of the SEC’s disgorgement authority. Previously, the Ninth Circuit held that pecuniary harm was not a precondition for disgorgement. However, Sripetch argues that the SEC should not be permitted to seek disgorgement without a showing of pecuniary harm. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in January 2026.
Now, the Waymaker team—including partner Keri Curtis Axel, appellate specialist Becky James, and associate Viviana Andazola Marquez—has filed another brief on behalf of CalALTs, this time addressing the merits of the case. “The Court should reverse the Ninth Circuit decision below,” their brief argues. “The Ninth Circuit’s reasoning … threatens to unfairly penalize individuals and entities who engage in the promotion of an emerging type of asset but who, despite their good faith efforts to comply with the law, may run afoul of securities regulations. Permitting the disgorgement remedy to be applied under the vague and overbroad standard endorsed by the Ninth Circuit will chill innovation in the investment industry and deprive U.S. investors of domestic investment opportunities.”
Read the brief here.
