In its July 14, 2015 decision in Koch et al. v. SEC (No. 14-1134), the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted in part a petition for review of a Commission order imposing sanctions for violations of the securities laws.  The court held in relevant part that the portion of the order imposing bars from association with municipal advisors and nationally recognized statistical rating organizations was impermissibly retroactive, and the court therefore vacated those bars.  Congress first authorized the Commission to impose those associational bars in the Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted on July 21, 2010.  In Koch, all the conduct at issue pre-dated the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, and the court held that applying those provisions to such conduct would be impermissibly retroactive.  The Commission has determined not to seek further review of that decision.

If you are the subject of a Commission order imposing a bar from associating with a municipal advisor and/or a nationally recognized statistical rating organization and you believe that the Koch decision affects the bar(s) in your case because all of the conduct relevant to such bar(s) occurred before July 22, 2010, the effective date of the Dodd-Frank Act, you may request that the Commission issue an order vacating the bar(s) by completing the form available at this link: www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocr/form-nrsro-muni-bars.pdf and submitting the form to the Commission as the form directs.  This process applies only to these two bars; if the Commission grants you relief, any other bars or suspension from association that were imposed (such as bars from associating with a broker-dealer or investment adviser) will remain in force.

This statement does not constitute a decision by the Commission on any particular case or request.