Fundsters who face courtroom battles against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may end up duking it out in front of judges appointed by the SEC.

Jean Eaglesham of the Wall Street Journal highlights the regulatory agency's shift towards putting more enforcement cases in front of the SEC's administrative judges, instead of taking the cases to federal court. The WSJ notes that the SEC's trial winning rate (in the 12 months through September) in front of its own judges (of whom there are five) was six of six, compared to 11 of 18 (61 percent) of the SEC's federal court trials over the same time period.

"We're using administrative proceedings more extensively because they offer a streamlined process with sophisticated fact finders," Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's enforcement chief, tells the WSJ.

The administrative judges typically make their rulings in 300 days or less, the paper notes. Typical federal court cases take years.

The WSJ credits the shift in part to powers granted under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. And the paper sees the SEC increasingly using its administrative judges for insider trading and other complicated cases. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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