One can just imagine the scene at the Securities and Exchange Commission - dancing and singing and just plain whooping it up.  Mary Schapiro's agency won a monumental victory in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday - one that soon may morph into a landmark decision - when a 3-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Federal District Judge Jed Rakoff had overstepped his judiciary authority in "calling the SEC out" for not requiring Citigroup to admit or deny charges that they had misled investors who purchased mortgage-related investments. Next up, the Appeals Court will hear arguments to determine whether the overturn Judge Rakoff's controversial rejection of the $285 million settlement.  While saying it needed to hear further arguments, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said there was a "strong" likelihood that Rakoff's decision would be overturned. Don't know how those in the securities industry, as well as those servicing Wall Street firms reacted, but at Compliance-Insights there was amazement. While there probably are many excellent accounts of today's events, we found that the piece written by NYTimes reporter Edward Wyatt - appearing in Dealbook - to have captured many of the nuances of today's hearing.

[Click SEC Poised to Upend Rakoff on Citi Settlement [BTN], for C-I's take on this story, based largely on Mr. Wyatt's piece.]

Until the next update.