Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That FTC Act Section 13(b) Does Not Authorize Equitable Monetary Relief

The Supreme Court this morning issued a unanimous ruling in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, finding that Section 13(b) of the FTC Act does not authorize the Commission to seek, or a court to award, equitable monetary relief such as restitution or disgorgement. 539 U.S. ___ (2021), Slip Op. at 1. This ruling not only forecloses the FTC's ability to obtain monetary remedies in deception cases without an administrative order but also stops its burgeoning efforts to obtain large disgorgement remedies in antitrust matters, which have often been in the hundreds of millions of dollars and reached over one billion dollars in one settlement.

The case at bar concerns the award of $1.27 billion in restitution and disgorgement damages ordered after AMG Capital Management was found liable for a payday lending scheme.  Slip Op. at 2-3.  However, this decision has broader implications for the FTC, which has regularly used Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to pursue and recover